Tales from the Borderlands New Story!
by CODED 2557
Summary: On the dangerous world of Pandora, a Hyperion suit, a con artist, a siren, and a bandit embark on an adventure to recover cash they both think is for themselves. But both yet to discover that this story is much longer, with many more adventures to unlock as they soon go looking for a Vault. They soon realize that, as unwilling partners must work together on a quest for greatness.
1. Info (Need Help!)

Okay, so I have not posted in a long time. But I have been thinking a lot, and even feeling a lot better lately. I am super excited for my trip down to DC because of the Junior National Young Leaders Conference that's coming up at the end of the month. But also terrified. I will not know anyone there. New people. Yay. But, I'm sure it'll end well. Hopefully. Last DC Trip for school wasn't really fun at points. And at points I mean like a lot. Everyone was just being them. I'm hoping whoever I will meet, since I'm rooming with 3 other kids my age that have the same skill as me, hopefully they'll be more...thoughtful.  
Anyway, that's what this journal is about. This is about my writing. I had been thinking of a new story, since a couple projects of mine are group things, and since it's summer it's kinda hard to do them and such. So I'm gonna put that on hold till school starts up again so I can work with my friends again. In the meantime, I have my own little project. Even though, in counting, I have 14 story ideas. Heheh kill me. BUT! I have a story I have been really focused on. So, I have been obsessed with this game that I found. Tales from the Borderlands. I got into it. I had found some TellTale games, and downloaded some demos on my Xbox 360. And I found the first episode of that game. I, had found my true love. Jk, no, but seriously, I love this game. I had asked for it, along with other Borderland games and I had gotten some. I had played all of the TellTale game, and I have yet to complete the Handsome Edition. But, the story was so good. Yeah, it has a lot of lore left to fill, but still amazing. But, I feel like TellTale forces things. I always feel like, even though all their games are good, there are still some bad things about it.  
For example. A forced death. There's, I think always one in the games. I haven't them all, but I have seen some, and informed by friends that there are a lot of forced deaths. As well as choices that say it'll affect the game, but then don't. I feel like it's that for TellTale. Even though there type of game is my favorite types of games, I love them so much. But I feel like Tales from the Borderlands was mistreated. It didn't have a lot of puzzles. Most of it was interaction. And I love interaction, I love it a lot. But with Borderlands, I wish there was more puzzles. To get a feeling around the world.  
Forced Deaths. I swear, kill me. Okay, before I continue, there will be spoilers for Tales from the Borderlands. So stop reading this paragraph and skip. Thank you. Okay. Scooter. Hehehehehehheheheheh. Heh. Heh... Heh... No. His death, I just got really, really mad about. It was just so forced. And I didn't really feel anything. Yeah, I like the character, but I wanted more time to get to know him. We barely knew him. And then his death was stupid. Those stupid little closing things on the sides of the rocket. Why do they close once it hits something? Was it a sort of bear trap, er something? Why didn't it just open and close over and over again. It doesn't matter if it hits something or not. And then the next thing was that, why didn't Fiona do anything. She did try to pull his hand out, but why didn't she get help. They simply could have gotten a knife or a gun and shoot the flaps that caught onto his hand, or even cut his hand off. Yeah, it sounds harsh, but it's better than having him die. But maybe he didn't. We don't know. I don't think he was mentioned after till Janey brought him up. And OMG JANEY! I was upset with her and Athena. Like, when and how did they get together. I ain't going to go all fangirl, but I want character development. They did a good job with other characters, but at points they kinda just threw stuff away and then put it all together at the end all the sudden. Like, when Athena was hit with those rockets. What happened to her after? Or Zer0 with his search for the Gortys Project? Or that Atlas Scientist when he saved Vaughn? How did Vaughn even collect all the people of Helios? Where did he even get his clothes? Where did Felix go? Why did he leave? Why didn't he come back once Vallory was dead? And so many other questions OMG! It just ticked me off so much.  
Those are some of the reasons why I want to write a story for it. So I can fill in those questions. So I add my own spin to things. The Borderlands Universe is so huge, it has plenty of space to create new things. Which is why I want to write a story for it. So I can add things to it. Fill out plot holes, and such. Plus, I have some creative ideas.  
Since Tales from the Borderlands already has a story, I decided I want this story to have a more emotional set since it's based off of a TellTale game. Plus, I want to add more scenes and such when they travel, since everything felt kinda forced and rushed when things moved in the plot. And about everything was convenient. So I'm gonna change a few things in the plot. But I also want a more emotional stand with Jack and Rhys. SPOILERS Jack's death (cough cough A.I. death) just felt. Nothing. Yeah, I almost cried cause I think Jack is awesome and I want him to live yet die at the same time, but, just. Eh. I mean, with the scene where Rhys was literally tearing himself apart to get rid of his once Hero, it should have felt more... dramatic. Like, it felt dead to me. And how he was just gone, and I think never mentioned again. Crazy. So, I want to aim for a more emotional touch in this story.  
I will be adding more characters into this story. Some on Pandora, some on Helios, and so on. I liked the idea of going through the eyes of someone being a Hyperion worker instead of some Vault Hunter. It was a cool idea. So I'm adding more characters into the story, to also help add things to it. And adding characters, I mean adding a lot of more characters. Since there's already a lot, just expect a lot of character development and talking. Hey, it's based off of a TellTale game, don't blame me.  
The characters are still going through designs, and I already started the rough draft of the first chapter a week ago. Almost has 30,000 words, and it's a rough draft and not even done. Also, just so you know, their still on freaking Helios planning on the trip. So yeah, a lot of talking and detailed stuff going on.  
I'm not sure when the first chapter will be released, but I'm hoping before the trip to DC, or when I'm on the trip. But each chapter will be longggggggggg. So, yeah. I will try to aim weekly when posting, but when school starts up, I'm not sure what the plan will be. Yay, high school... whoo... But, I will try as best I can to work on this.  
Since this is a side project, I'm not sure if I will continue it. I want to try to aim for completely the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands. If I continue after that episode, then you will know I will finish this story. But, I also want to try something. When I wrote an old story, called Glitches a long tome ago, I tried to interact with the readers. Give each chapter a cliff hanger, with a choice that the people in the comments with have to choose. Whichever choice got the most votes, that was the thing will happen in the story. So in this, I kinda want to do the same. But I also want to create AUs. Alternate Universes. Short stories. Maybe a reader could give me some crazy idea, like a Mordern AU, or a High School AU, heck, even a Mermaid AU. I want to expand in my writing, work with what I got. If I have ideas from the readers, that would be awesome. But, I'm not even sure if I will have readers. But if not, I will still enjoy writing the story nonetheless.  
Now, let's talk about characters. I want to focus on more characters, having more main characters. So I currently have one in mind, and still adding some, don't worry. I have one, a 27 year old lady who works for Hyperion. She is the Main Engineer of Hyperion, so she's one of the 'Higher Ups.' However, she original was on Pandora. But when she was around 20, she was able to get on Helios. I don't know how yet, I'm still making the story. I kinda want it to involve Jack some how, since I want at least one person to be best buds with him before he turned into a crazy killer dude. But, she soon had a job on Helios and so on. I am still experimenting with the ideas, so eh. Side thing is, she's also a Siren. I was thinking to how all the Sirens we've seen is after Vaults. So I wanted to have one, you know, not going after a Vault. And to how TellTale thought of the idea of having a character work on Helios, I thought why not. So she's secretly a Siren and in hiding. So yeah. I did have other ideas, but I have settled with this one. This character is named Cat Fritz. I orignally wanted it to be Clementine Fritz, but thinking of a nickname for Jack to say since he gives everyone a nickname was kinda hard, so I thought of Catsy. My friend helped with the name Cat. Plus, I wanted it to start with a C because the initials were C.F, and at some point in the story I want something to make a joke of it, saying it stands for Cunt F*ck or something. Warning, the story will have curse words that will not be bleeped out, and will have dark humor. Cause, that's Borderlands. I want this character to have conflict with herself, as well as with the other characters. Keeping her secret of being a Siren could be a huge deal. Like, should she protect her friends or keep her Siren thing secret. Plus, once being best friends with the CEO who had enslaved his daughter because she was a Siren. Yeah. But, in an experiment she also lost an arm, and got a robotic one. And Rhys said that she should get an ECHOeye to be 'twinnsies.' Because it's funny. So this character has conflict, because she can't tell if she's human, a machine, or a creature. And omg do not worry. This chick is not this emo kid who has this tragic backstory and no one understands, and she's all a mary sue character, where she has the perfect personality but everyone hates her, blah blah blah. Heheh, nope. This character is actually a character. She's actually happy, and actually relate-able. As well as funny, and has anger issues and is a snarky butthole.  
Then I have another character, Benedict Haven. Or, Dr. Haven. He's a cowardly doctor who likes gore, but doesn't like murderers. He's a big ole chicken, and is comic relief, but also plays a big thing in the story. He's a Best Friend in the story. He's the one crazy doctor, but is terrified of going in a fight. Going down to Pandora will be great for him, as for development of growing a backbone. He too has self conflict, as he's not sure about Pandora, often running away from fights, but then fights with himself to protect his friends, since he's the protective type. And plus, this guy is suppose to be funny. But I'm debating where or not he should be gay. It'd be funny, but then at the same time I'm not sure. I mean, Athena and Janey are a thing, but I'm not sure if it'd work for the character. Plus, I kinda want my dad to read some of it, but then he'd get all triggered because he's mega Christian. Now to think of it, it might be a good idea. I like annoying my dad.  
Then there's a bunch of other characters who will take to long to write and stuff. But this story. Man, I have so many ideas and plans for it. But like it said, this is a side project. An experiment. So I don't know how it'll end up.  
You know how I said earlier about AUs, and also wanting a bunch or more characters in the story. Well, maybe I could have other people's OCs. Like, in a short bit. Maybe one line to even being in the story as an actual character. It could be the person who works at the gas station once the caravan needs some gas, or maybe it'd be like the mysterious stranger from Fallout and save them all. Heck, maybe some dude of Helios who secretly helps them every now and then. Or maybe some dude who leads a bandit camp who's after the Gortys Project. Maybe even a character that is a part of the group and will stay in the story the entire time! I don't know. Who knows what could happen! I want to interact with the readers, have them also help me tell this tale.  
Now, I would like to add. This isn't some fanfic to ship people. Or to have a bunch of sad stuff going on only to inflict pain on the characters. This is suppose to be a funny story. And yes, bits of sadness, and angst. But mostly humor. Borderlands is mostly funny stuff. So I want to focus on that. I don't want to ship people, or make people cry and hug each other. I want this to be funny and literally have your family look at you like your insane when you're suddenly laughing like a lunatic looking at your phone. But, in the game, there was a forced ship with Rhys and Sasha. I don't know how to feel, but like I said. I want the readers to help me write this. So, tell me what you want. Plus, give me some OC characters that I could add into the story.  
Note about the OCs, too. They must be a character in the Borderlands. Not some Time Traveler who might be a timelord of something. It has to be something with the Borderlands. And good, too. No mary sues, and I do not want this character who is just some attention hoe or something. It's annoying. Just make it some random accountant, or some random bandit. Heck, you can even make a fic for the character them self, so I can read it and somehow add it to the story. Maybe the character could have some backstory with some of the characters in the story I'm making. But, tell me all the details I need to know, and I could try to make it fit. But, don't get all fussy if I say no to the character. If I get any characters to add, that is. But, try working with me. See if that character can be added. But also remember, I don't want some character stealing the spot light from the main characters. Like I said, aim for side characters. I might make them continue into the story, if you want. It just depends. But I also suggest to try to make them a story, and send it to me. It could be short, could be long. Heck, a drawing of the character can help! But I just want to interact with the readers. So yeah. Please help me make this happen, and we'll see what we make!

EDIT: I would like to point out, that I would love ideas from readers. Any ideas for characters, such as backstory, designs, as well as plots points. Heck, give me something to reference, and I would. If it's appropriate, that is. Plus, I will also be posting on two other websites.

user/CODED2557  
So if you don't like reading on Fanfiction, you could read on these. I don't know. Eh.


	2. Teaser

Tales from the Borderlands New Story  
Chapter 1: Story Time!

"Asshole!" Cat muttered to herself. Or, more like yelling to herself. Or, yelling at someone who she had no idea where each of them went. Of course, the two she was traveling with, Rhys and Fiona, had gone into the millionth fight. Because neither of them could handle five minutes with each other without having to fight about something. God, it was annoying.  
Rhys and Fiona always fought. Rhys, the Company Man, Fiona, the Con Artist. Cat, the one who was gonna kick their asses.  
Cat was unsure what caused the switch in the situation, but one minute they were travelling on Pandora while Cat was scouting the area, and then next thing she knew, Fiona ran off meanwhile Rhys was chasing her. Of course, Cat lost them, and now she was wandering aimlessly in the desert on a planet that has about every single living and nonliving thing that wants to kill you.  
"Rhys! Fiona! Come one!" Cat yelled in anger. She hated the desert. Well, she didn't hate it. But she did not enjoy it when she was walking in full clothing, yelling out for people's names who may never respond. As well as the chance for someone else to respond with a bullet or two to the face. As well as the sun radiating heat onto her. Cat could just feel the puddles of sweat falling off of her, not to mention the smell as well. She would really like a shower. And a bed. And, like, a safe place. However, that was more rare than Vaults on that planet.  
Speaking of Vaults, that was one of the reasons why she was in this mess. Originally, she was on Helios, the big huge satellite shaped like an H in the sky. The Hyperion company really was the glamorous type. However, she started there. Well, she started on Pandora as a child first, then went to Hyperion, then came back to Pandora, then later went back to Hyperion, and is now back on Pandora. Whoo, what a story it was. And to be honest, she kinda missed being on Helios. But, now this was her life, searching for treasure on Pandora. What would that make her, a hunter? A treasure seeker (India Jones would be so proud)? A Vault Hunter…? A Bandit? No. She wasn't a bandit. Bandit's murdered people, took the treasure for themselves. Cat helped people. She would talk her way out of things. She would share her findings. She wasn't a bandit. She had mercy. She saved people. She had sympathy. But she wasn't a hero, either.  
"Oh my God!" Cat yelled in frustration, moving the collar of her shirt away from her neck, unbuttoning it. It was way to hot. She unbuttoned it to where her chest showed, as she tried to get some air on her skin other than the tingling feeling of hot water sticking to her skin. Her long blonde hair felt almost drenched, as it was up in a messing ponytail. She could feel the drips of sweat falling off her hair, dropping onto her now showing neck. Her pale skin was most likely getting a tan, or more likely a sunburn. She could tell by her red cheeks, with her brown freckles appearing over it. Her one green eye, her right one, was sparkling, as well as the purple ECHOeye of her left eye. Thanks to Hyperion for the upgrade, as well as the right arm robot arm. That was yet another story to tell.  
Cat's robot arm was rather advanced, built by her own hands. Being the Main Engineer/Mechanic of Hyperion, or, being the Ex Main Engineer/Mechanic of Hyperion gave her a lot of time to invent, and she made an arm just for herself. It was hard, since she had one hand to do it with, but she had help with a close friend. The arm had silver platings, with the bits of purple glowing out of some of the glass, showing a sort of power source. Cat lifted her arm up, her palm out, now seeing a blue holo display of a tablet screen. Cat watched it, as she watched words and numbers appear. Soon enough, she saw that now the screen displayed a figure of a phone, ringing, as Rhys' name appeared. Luckily now, their arms were synced, and they could call, trace, and several other advancements.  
Cat watched it ring as she continued to walk in the middle of the dirt path, each side having tall rock formations of points and tips, seeming to pierce the sky, with was accompanied by sand burning away anything that so much looks at it.  
The gentle breeze was helping with the heat, making the hairs on the back on her neck stick up. The breeze made little strands of her hair fell loose over her face, as some had sticked onto her forehead. She reached her hand up brush the sticky wet strands away from her eyes, rubbing her glasses in the process to get rid of the dust that formed on them.  
Cat adjusted her light purple color collar, connected to the light purple button up, with the bottom part having longer ends, looking like a long coat under with the center cut. Her outfit wasn't actually the best attire to wear out in the middle of the desert. Wearing her jegging, the left leg all black, the right leg a grey. She had a part of the light blue shirt cut off and tied around her left knee. Then her brown combat boots, with golden plating at the bending joint of the foot, where a golden fabric wrapped around the back of the heel. The side of the book was metal clips on the side, her left boot holding a knife. Then she wore a brown jacket over her button up, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Same as her button up. Under the jacket was a grey button up, with the logo Atlas on the left side of the chest. The honeybee comb pattern was on the top of the jacket, as the only other detail was the bottom of the vest was trimmed with red. Under her jacket she had a brown shoulder holster, containing her lucky pistol under the left armpit. The right armpit held a knife. She then had a brown belt with a silver clip holding it together. However, there was a strap connecting to a bag on her left leg, containing supplies. She also had another bag, a leather strap of a one strapped wrapped around her body as a bag, it also containing many supplies and items.  
Cat was well prepared for travelling, in case something were to happen. Emergencies, that's all. Although, she could use some water right at the moment.  
She scowled as the call ended, not getting a pick up. The tablet display soon disappeared to a sort of map, having the white dot being Cat, and the yellow sort of 4 tipped star shape being Rhys on the map. She watched, trying to see where he had gone, but then growled as she saw the yellow star seemed to be running, getting further and further away. She was going to cut off his legs that he had to days, she could promise anyone that.  
Cat was lucky to have synced their robotic devices to each other, in case they would have gotten split up, such as now, or to call and contact and so on. It was great if the group ever needed to split up into two, so they could contact each other.  
Jogging wasn't really fun, but she started to try to catch up with the yellow star on her tablet display. Damn Rhys and his long legs. Maybe Fiona could help Cat with cutting his legs off.  
What were they fighting about? Cat was unsure. And yet, didn't really care, because it was most likely something childish and Cat would have to deal with it.  
Cat decided to put her arm away, now not needing it as Rhys seemed to be heading in one direction. Cat wasn't so far behind, but there was a massive rock formation in the way, and she had to go around it. Pandora and it's stupid formations.  
She could feel her tired legs running. They have been walking for days, looking for an old town, with the building called 'The World of Curiosities.' That's where everything started. That's where they met Fiona and her sister, or, partner in crime, Sasha. Cat hasn't seen Sasha in so long. Cat hasn't seen a lot of people in so long.  
Now was not the time to get mopey over people, now was the time to punch both Rhys and Fiona in the dick. Metaphorically. She couldn't with Fiona because… yeah… But, Cat's patience seemed to have broken from the two.  
"Rhys! You bloody idiot! Get back here!" Cat called. She panted, getting tired from the running, but she slowed to a stop once she made her way around the rock formation, instead of climbing it. The massive rock was giving her a sort of shade from the sun, but when she rounded the corner, she was met with a burning gaze of the sun. Cat lifted her arms up, blocking the sun. Her mismatched eyes squinted, as she adjusted to the new lighting. Cat rested her left arm to the side, as the other was held above her head to give her eyes from shade.  
Cat looked below the blue sky and orange sun, to see more open wasteland, as well as dozens of rocks and bones of creatures scattered everywhere. She grimaced at the thought that some of the bones could possibly be human.  
With a long sigh, Cat looked over to the right, seeing a sort of round rock formation of brown rock, standing tall and mighty. Although, they were everywhere. The land was so deformed and destroyed.  
Cat glanced around, seeing a billboard. Wait, she's seen that one before. It said 'Prosperity Junction:The Future is on Rails.' She even recognized the dead hanging body of bones decaying, slightly swaying back and forth from the noose of torn rope. Yeash. The billboard all broken and torn, pieces of it falling off, meanwhile some just lay on the ground. It was even tilted to the right, a bottom point resting in the sand.  
"0.2 miles away…" Cat muttered, reading the smaller words of the sign. Not bad. That's about a few minute walk. But she needed to find dumb and dumber. There was probably a third, because who would need a sign saying a town is like an inch away from you? Seriously. If there were no rocks, that could it a mile away!  
There was no way she could see, not past the rocks. Getting some high ground could help her spot Rhys. But her legs throbbed from the walking. She didn't have time to complain as she began her descent.  
She decided to climb a non steep one, making her way up fast. She almost fell a few times, hitting stubs. But thanks to apart of her robot leg, it was easier. Half of her right side of her body limbs was robotic, some parts flesh and bone, and then some of it filling with metal. The same coloring of her robotic arm.  
It was nice to walk on something hard, instead of her boots sinking into the sand. Rocks wasn't really an improvement though. She swore she could fall into quicksand any second.  
After grabbing onto an edge, she pulled herself up, the muscles in her arm straining. However, she made it to the top, being several yards away from the ground. She didn't like heights. One of her biggest fears was heights. But, she knew she wasn't going to fall. And if she did, she would probably just break something.  
"Fiona!" A fate voice yelled in the distance. "Come on! We can work this out!"  
Cat glanced around, catching a figure walking in the distance. It stopped in front of the bill board sign. It was the stupid tall idiot out in the distance, holding a device in his hands. Cat viewed in with her ECHOeye, and saw that he was calling Fiona's name. Cat scoffed at that with a smile, shaking her head. Man, she was going to punch them both. The idea never seemed to escape her mind.  
Rhys was looking around, trying to find Fiona. Cat could barely hear him, but she could read his lips with her ECHOeye, and tell what he was saying whenever his face came into view. He was rather far away though, it'd probably take her a couple minutes to walk there. He was right next to the billboard. So far away, she wanted to die. However, she wanted to see how this would play out. Maybe Fiona would pop out and kick him. There was only hope.  
Cat wasn't expecting to see someone appear out of nowhere, dressed full in a suit for radiation. Was there a leakage anywhere? The suit was gray, with bits of red and black, with two yellow glowing lines on it's right shoulder. His boots were red with grey wrapping, with it's left leg having his pants fall over the boot as the other was stuffed inside the boot. He had a one-strap grey and brown bag wrapped around him, holding who knows. And it's face was covered in a mask, a short of gas mask, with one glowing orb of orange. Must be his way to see. However, it was topped with an odd shaped hat, looking like a bowl resting upside down on his head, a grey color with strong string supports keeping it on his head.  
A small gasp escaped Cat's lips when she saw the stranger holding a shotgun in his hand. It was black, with a long red paint trail down on the barrel. Cat watched, now reaching for her Hyperion scoped pistol, with a silver and golden plating, strapped in her arm shoulder holster. She gripped it, feeling anxious.  
Cat could feel herself gripping harder on her pistol, while she crouched down. Even though she was far away, she had perfect aim.  
She watched impatiently meanwhile Rhys talked to the Stranger. Talking to fellow wanderers isn't exactly the best idea in all of Pandora. And one with a mask and shotgun, it just spelled bad news.  
Cat was right. Soon enough, Cat had her arm out when she saw Rhys fall to the ground, having a red mark on his cheek, blood flying out of his mouth when the butt of the shotgun met his face. Cat aimed her gun, zooming in, having a clear shot of the stranger's forehead. Cat could feel her finger on the trigger, but didn't pull when she realized something was wrong. The stranger didn't shoot him, or ended the job of killing the unconscious Rhys who now laid on the sandy ground.  
"What are you up?" Cat muttered to herself, moving a hand through the long bangs dangling into her sight of view. She rested her steady hands on the pistol, watching it aim towards the stranger, ready to kill if he tried anything funny.  
However, the stranger simply fiddled with Rhys body, pushing him off of his stomach and onto his back. Looting, Cat assumed. However, when the stranger reached for his bag, Cat took a step forwards, ready to shoot and run into a full on sprint. But, the stranger simply pulled out what seemed to be duct tape. Was he tying Rhys up? To Cat's thoughts, she was right. She watched as the stranger tied him arms to his side with loads of tape. Then to his ankles, so Rhys couldn't run away when he awoke.  
Now that was interesting. Not that they haven't been kidnapped before, they have. But why him. The stranger was just a stranger. So why was he kidnapping Rhys. Maybe he was going to throw him into a bunch of Skags. Or throw him off a cliff. Or many other ways to kill him, since there's millions of ways to die on Pandora. But now it interested Cat. Where was he taking Rhys?  
Cat had the choice to shoot him, and save Rhys. But then, if someone wanted to kidnap him, would that mean Rhys was in danger. Was there more than one of them? Is Rhys a target? What do they want from him? If so, she needed to follow without getting caught. She needed to see what the stranger was going at.  
Soon enough, the stranger wrapped a metal hook around the tape at Rhys' ankles, and began to drag him. Seeming to drag him towards the path of nothingness, deeper inside the sweaty dessert. Cat took this as a notice to follow suit. Another adventure. She missed that.  
Cat was careful when she leaped off the rock, almost falling on more rocks. However, once she landed on the ground with a cloud of dust and sand flying up from the impact, Cat watched as the stranger dragged Rhys in the distance. Now, it was sneaking time. Cat stayed close to any rocks and bushes and such to hide behind, in case the stranger decided to turn around at some point. Till he disappeared behind rocks and heat waves. Why was be going towards the arrow that billboard had?  
Why did people like to try to take them? Or hurt them? Cat honestly thought it was a hobby for people. Even since they landed on that planet, people have been trying to track them down, trying to kidnap them, or kill them. Why can't someone just walk up to them, give them a handshake and have a small chat. Was that too much to ask for?  
However, it did interest Cat. The only reason why this stranger would kidnap Rhys that came to mind for Cat was that he wanted to use his as a sort of bargaining chip. He was the CEO of Atlas. Ex company man of Hyperion, now CEO of Atlas. Quite a big leap. And a very successful leap. He was getting loads of money, and even now building on Pandora, selling to other planets and galaxies. He was slowly making his way on the list of being a successful company. Rhys would hire Cat for mercenary work, but Cat was also the main engineer for Atlas. So she had really good pay.  
As for Fiona, Cat wasn't sure. Now to think of it, where was she? Did she also happen to see what happened to Rhys? If so, then she was probably laughing her ass off. Cat would too, however this situation has too many questions to laugh about.  
Cat soon had sight of the stranger again, who slowly was moving Rhys as he walked into the middle of the desert.  
Seeing the trag marks on the ground, Cat could follow them easily while keeping her distance. Rhys is going to be so mad when he finds all the dirt on his back.  
Cat snickered at that, imagining him complaining about it.  
She could even see some Rakk above in the sky. Just… lovely, deadly creatures. Hopefully she won't have to kill those. They were annoying. They were circling, she noticed. Now to think of it, the stranger might be feeding them. They might be his lovely, deadly pets.  
Cat looked to the left slightly, seeing in the distance that the stranger and Rhys were moving further away. Cat noticed to how the land was slightly up, having a long and wide, but short hill in the middle. She could travel on the other and not be noticed. So that's what she did. Cat walked on the other side of the hill, meanwhile the stranger and Rhys were on the other side, far up ahead. Thank you, sand dunes.  
Cat would bop her head up every now and then to see if they were still heading the same way. Cat found this amusing, but yet annoying. Mainly because they were going off track, they lost Fiona, and that the stranger punched Rhys in the face and only Cat could do that.  
She couldn't understand how the Stranger lived in his body suit. His name is now, the Stranger, because Cat believes it sounds badass. But still, the Stranger, being in full clothing. Was he dying? Maybe he had some cooling system in his suit. Cat wished she had one. It was dying hot outside.  
Once again bopping her head up, she saw that Rhys was stirling, at what seemed to be ten minutes. Finally.  
Cat watched close as he awoke, making sure he was alright. He squinted his eyes, guessing the sun hurt them. He looked around, seeming disoriented. He then finally rested his eyes on the Stranger, now glaring at the Stranger. "What is happening right now?"  
"I ask the questions." The Stranger said. His voice sounded odd. Low, and sturdy. Very dominant. Male, definitely. But...robotic? Must be a sort of modifier. So why was he hiding his voice?  
"Okay...Then do you mind asking yourself what you're doing?" Rhys said slowly, as if he was a child. Oh, his snarky comment was going to get him shot at one day.  
What took Cat off guard was to how the Stranger stopped, dropping Rhys' legs, not caring if he brought harm to him of not. Cat stopped, now being too close to them, and crouched down, not to be seem, but still watched. The Stranger walked around Rhys' form, now at his left side, to where Cat could barely see him. And next thing she knew, he kicked Rhys in the side.  
"Ooh, ah. Owww! What the hell?" Rhys yelled out in pain, glaring at the Stranger.  
With this, the Stranger crouched down, one knee on the ground while his left arm was on his knee. "Tell me about the Gortys Project."  
The Gortys Project? The hell? How does he know about the Gortys Project? More importantly, why does he care about the Gortys Project? Nobody knew about it. Or at least, almost everyone who knew is dead. But the Project is dead, abandoned, gone. Woosh, outta here. But then this guy knows. And why does he care? Is he a sort of Vault Hunter? If he was, does Cat even stand a chance?  
"Is that what this is about? Look, Gortys is bad business. If you want a real hot investment, I am on the ground floor of some property on Eden-Okay! Okay. Okay. Okay." Rhys panicked, saying it out quickly once the Stranger pointed his shotgun at Rhys' place where the sun doesn't shine. Cat quickly aimed her gun, ready to fire if he did so.  
"Don't be a smart-ass." The Stranger growled, poking Rhys' crouch once as a sort of threat, then lifted his gun away in both of his hands, now standing up.  
The Stranger wasn't wrong, though. Rhys was a smart-ass. But Cat was better at it.  
"I'm not a patience person." The Stranger said, now walking away, to pick up the hook he dropped on the ground, and lifted Rhys' legs up. "So just start talking." He said, now dragging Rhys once again.  
"Just...Where do you start when you're getting dragged through the desert and uh…" Rhys started.  
"From the beginning." The Stranger said, now looking at the town that Cat failed to notice.  
Cat stared at the town, seeing it was abandoned. "Prosperity Junction." Cat said, reading the words that were being held above the clock, indicating the main hall. However, the yellow words were missing the letter T. The town was small, with metal buildings covered in dust and rust, showing paints of black, brown, red, and so on. Broken cars littered the place, doors and glass broken. Cat glared at it, not trusting it. There were sorts of railing system above the town. Although, no train was to be seen. There was a huge building in the back, with the main leading road leading towards the building. It had bits of the ceiling sticking out, clearly broken. If this was a bandit camp, Cat wasn't sure if she could take them on. She's met bandits before, and fought them, but a town this huge could hold hundreds. But this Stranger doesn't look like the type, nor acts like one. The thought of him being a Vault Hunter still lingers.  
Cat smirked, remembering a Vault Hunter the name of Zer0 they met awhile ago, who had asked about a Gortys Project.  
Cat watched as Rhys rambled on talking about what happened. However, with the Stranger seemed distracted, Cat took the chance to run towards the buildings, now running out of the hill, her being in the complete open. Cat ran for it, feeling her feet sink into the sand, as she ran towards the building. Once she made it, she ran into the door, now inside, and slowly closed the door. It screeched a little, having the rust making it impossible to close. Cat left it slightly ajar, panting at the short run. Cat holstered her gun, leaning against a wall. The room was dark, and it was hard to see.  
Cat hoped the Stranger didn't see her. Or heard her. If so, she'll be needing her gun soon. She slowly rested her hand on the holster, feeling the warm metal of the gun pressing on her fingers.  
Cat turned on her ECHOeye, it glowing a purple in the dark room. The shade felt nice. But, she lifted her hand, having a purple light appearing from her arm, using it as a sort of flashlight. It lit up the room, and she saw how empty it was. Just some desks, shelves, broken if she might add, with chairs and such. Even some loots crates, which were open, showing nothing but emptiness. That place was clearly looted, as all the shelves and drawers were open and empty. Cat growled at her luck, and shifted her head around, taking notice of the door across from her, with the light of the outside at the rims of it. Cat walked towards it, her booted heels walking on the metal, making satisfying clicks on the ground. She pushed it open slightly, turning off the light of her hand, and peeked her head outside. The sun burnt her eyes, she had liked the dark room. She squinted her eyes as she looked, seeing that she was in an ally. She turned to the left, seeing the main road entrance, seeing that the Stranger had dropped Rhys on the ground, holding his shotgun up, as if he was looking for something. He must have heard her. Cat slowly closed the door, to where only her eye could peek through.  
Rhys looked at the Stranger unimpressed. "Look, I didn't hear anything. I don't know what you're rambling about." Rhys said, but Cat could tell he was lying. He must know it was Cat. She was the only person who could know his location.  
Cat grinned at that. Rhys, although annoying and can be an idiot, did have his moments of being awesome. However, the Stranger did not seem to believe him.  
The Stranger just looked, holding his shotgun up. Cat was unsure of what to do. Either go out, blow her cover, or stay hidden. She could feel the blood bumping through her faster, man she missed the adrenaline rush. However, a Stranger with a shotgun in a small area, with the idea that he might be a Vault Hunter was a scary thought.  
She decided the best idea was move from her spot. Cat moved away from the rusty door, and slowly moved back from it. She made her way towards the other door she came in, which would face the desert. She could see the light from the door, but she decided not to turn on her light, so she accidently kicked and almost tripped on a few things.  
Going out wasn't the best idea, getting caught and all. But, she had to move before the Stranger started to investigate. But Cat knew he wasn't a bandit, since Cat didn't see a single sign of one. This was once a flourishing town, but then she came back to see it was abandoned. Flourishing is a strong word. It was more like… a jailhouse. Maybe bandits took it over, and then left. It would explain why everything was missing. But what happened to Shade?  
Shade was someone they ran into at some point, but it doesn't matter.  
Cat opened the door, now seeing the desert she walked through earlier. The sun didn't hurt her eyes as much, but she still lifted an arm above her head to shade her eyes. She groaned at the sun, hating it.  
Cat stepped out, feeling that her heeled boots had slightly sinked into the desert ground once again. She hated walking on it. Any moment, she could step in quicksand. That death would be ironic.  
However, a shotgun to the head wouldn't be as much. Cat had looked over, and she jumped, surprised, and little gasp leaving her. She didn't expect to see the barrel of the shotgun at her cheek. Oh, this guy was good. Cat cursed at herself, not noticing he went that way. He must have heard the source of the door opening, and came around.  
The Stranger was more terrifying up close. The bright orange light was piercing. But what was hiding behind was nagging at her. No clue to who the Stranger was. He was tall, Cat noted. As well as scary looking. Did she say that already? Ah, who cares. Big guy, glowing orb, and shotgun. Oh right. The uh… shotgun.  
Cat stared wide eyed at the the shotgun, to where she could almost smell the gunpowder on it. Cat gave a sheepish smile, raising her hands up in the air. "Hi-Uph!" She grunted, feeling the butt of the shotgun meeting her cheek with a welcoming hug. Guess the Stranger likes to hit people with his shotgun. A lot of people liked to hit people on that planet.  
Welcome to Pandora, kiddos.


	3. Chapter 1 - Steal His Deal

Tales from the Borderlands New Story

Chapter 1: Story Time!

"Asshole!" Cat muttered to herself. Or, more like yelling to herself. Or, yelling at someone who she had no idea where each of them went. Of course, the two she was traveling with, Rhys and Fiona, had gone into the millionth fight. Because neither of them could handle five minutes with each other without having to fight about something. God, it was annoying.

Rhys and Fiona always fought. Rhys, the Company Man, Fiona, the Con Artist. Cat, the one who was gonna kick their asses.

Cat was unsure what caused the switch in the situation, but one minute they were travelling on Pandora while Cat was scouting the area, and then next thing she knew, Fiona ran off meanwhile Rhys was chasing her. Of course, Cat lost them, and now she was wandering aimlessly in the desert on a planet that has about every single living and nonliving thing that wants to kill you.

"Rhys! Fiona! Come one!" Cat yelled in anger. She hated the desert. Well, she didn't hate it. But she did not enjoy it when she was walking in full clothing, yelling out for people's names who may never respond. As well as the chance for someone else to respond with a bullet or two to the face. As well as the sun radiating heat onto her. Cat could just feel the puddles of sweat falling off of her, not to mention the smell as well. She would really like a shower. And a bed. And, like, a safe place. However, that was more rare than Vaults on that planet.

Speaking of Vaults, that was one of the reasons why she was in this mess. Originally, she was on Helios, the big huge satellite shaped like an H in the sky. The Hyperion company really was the glamorous type. However, she started there. Well, she started on Pandora as a child first, then went to Hyperion, then came back to Pandora, then later went back to Hyperion, and is now back on Pandora. Whoo, what a story it was. And to be honest, she kinda missed being on Helios. But, now this was her life, searching for treasure on Pandora. What would that make her, a hunter? A treasure seeker (India Jones would be so proud)? A Vault Hunter…? A Bandit? No. She wasn't a bandit. Bandit's murdered people, took the treasure for themselves. Cat helped people. She would talk her way out of things. She would share her findings. She wasn't a bandit. She had mercy. She saved people. She had sympathy. But she wasn't a hero, either.

"Oh my God!" Cat yelled in frustration, moving the collar of her shirt away from her neck. It was way to hot. She pulled it to where her chest showed, as she tried to get some air on her skin other than the tingling feeling of hot water sticking to her skin. Her long blonde hair felt almost drenched, as it was up in a ponytail. She could feel the drips of sweat falling off her hair, dropping onto her now showing neck. Her pale skin was most likely getting a tan, or more likely a sunburn. She could tell by her red cheeks, with her brown freckles appearing over it. Her one teal eye, her right one, was sparkling, as well as the purple ECHOeye of her left eye. Thanks to Hyperion for the upgrade, as well as the right arm robot arm. That was yet another story to tell.

Cat's robot arm was rather advanced, built by her own hands. Being the Main Engineer/Mechanic of Hyperion, or, being the Ex Main Engineer/Mechanic of Hyperion gave her a lot of time to invent, and she made an arm just for herself. It was hard, since she had one hand to do it with, but she had help with a close friend. The arm had silver and blue platings, with the bits of purple glowing out of some of the glass, showing a sort of power source. The shoulder plate even had a logo, saying Atlas. The sleeve to it was cut off, showing off her robotic arm. Cat lifted her arm up, her palm out, now seeing a blue holo display of a tablet screen. Cat watched it, as she watched words and numbers appear. Soon enough, she saw that now the screen displayed a figure of a phone, ringing, as Rhys' name appeared. Luckily now, their arms were synced, and they could call, trace, and several other advancements.

Having robotic enhancements was nice, yet each time she looked at them it became more and more clear she wasn't completely human. Heck, even her most human hand had gotten cut, where not the forearm was in half, showing the metal bar that should be her bown. Her hand had some robotic parts, however it was covered by a brown glove.

Cat watched it ring as she continued to walk in the middle of the dirt path, each side having tall rock formations of points and tips, seeming to pierce the sky, with was accompanied by sand burning away anything that so much looks at it.

The gentle breeze was helping with the heat, making the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. The breeze made little strands of her hair fall loose over her face, as some had sticked onto her forehead. She reached her hand up, brushing the sticky wet strands away from her eyes, rubbing her glasses in the process to get rid of the dust that formed on them.

Cat adjusted her light purple color collar, connected to the light purple button up. Her outfit wasn't actually the best attire to wear out in the middle of the desert. Wearing her jegging, the left leg all black, the right leg a grey, with black leather armor to protect her upper legs. She had a part of the light purple shirt sleeve cut off and tied around her left knee, because she had to use it as a sort of bandage a long time ago. Her left arm had the sleeve rolled up to her elbow, as the right arm had the sleeve completely cut off. Then her one grey boot on her left leg that met to her knees has a knee plating shaped like a diamond, the color of a darker grey. The boot had a string tied back and forth on the front of the boot, till it made it to the ankle, where a brown wrap around it made it stop. There were three brown wraps around the lower leg, over the boot, one covering a purple light source on the boot. Then the lower part, past the ankle had a metal part sticking out, backwards of the ankle. Then another brown wrapping on top of the boot to the platform of the bottom. That strap had a golden click on it, keeping it together. The boot was of course heeled, with white heels and the bottom of the shoe white, as well as a blase on the shoe was white. Her other leg was robot, as it was a sort of metal stick shaped like a rectangle. It had metal clips on the top and end to support it, as there was purple light on the top. Then the foot of them robot leg was the same as the other heeled foot. She had a sense of fashion. She had brown belt straps on her legs, wrapping around her thighs from the middle of her belt. The left leg held a book with metal clips on the side,keeping it on. The other leg then had a inventory holder. Her high kneed boot on her left leg had a long dagger, almost a sword, attached to the brown straps. The belt around her waist had little brown bags, holding supplies of wonder inside them. Then she wore a vest, it overwrapping onto her right side. It had golden buttons, two rows each having five downwards. The side with the buttons had grey, as the other side of the vest was a darker grey, with black thin lines going down it. It even had a pocket. Then the top of the vest had a darker grey, with the Atlas logo on the right side of her chest, as the other held a shield to protect her. It was small, in the shape of a hexagon. It was a blue-ish steel metal, with the center being blue. It was a sort of watch, was a silver chain went inside her vest. She had that as a tribute to someone who wore it like that. Over her vest she had a brown shoulder holster, containing her lucky pistol under the left armpit. The right armpit held a knife.

Cat was well prepared for travelling, in case something were to happen. Emergencies, that's all. Although, she could use some water right at the moment.

She scowled as the call ended, not getting a pick up. The tablet display soon disappeared to a sort of map, having the white dot being Cat, and the yellow sort of 4 tipped star shape being Rhys on the map. She watched, trying to see where he had gone, but then growled as she saw the yellow star seemed to be running, getting further and further away. She was going to cut off his legs that he had to days, she could promise anyone that.

Cat was lucky to have synced their robotic devices to each other, in case they would have gotten split up, such as now, or to call and contact and so on. It was great if the group ever needed to split up into two, so they could contact each other.

Jogging wasn't really fun, but she started to try to catch up with the yellow star on her tablet display. Damn Rhys and his long legs. Maybe Fiona could help Cat with cutting his legs off.

What were they fighting about? Cat was unsure. And yet, didn't really care, because it was most likely something childish and Cat would have to deal with it.

Cat decided to put her arm away, now not needing it as Rhys seemed to be heading in one direction. Cat wasn't so far behind, but there was a massive rock formation in the way, and she had to go around it. Pandora and it's stupid formations.

She could feel her tired legs running. They have been walking for days, looking for an old town, with the building called 'The World of Curiosities.' That's where everything started. That's where they met Fiona and her sister, or, partner in crime, Sasha. Cat hasn't seen Sasha in so long. Cat hasn't seen a lot of people in so long.

Now was not the time to get mopey over people, now was the time to punch both Rhys and Fiona in the dick. Metaphorically. She couldn't with Fiona because… yeah… But, Cat's patience seemed to have broken from the two.

"Rhys! You bloody idiot! Get back here!" Cat called. She panted, getting tired from the running, but she slowed to a stop once she made her way around the rock formation, instead of climbing it. The massive rock was giving her a sort of shade from the sun, but when she rounded the corner, she was met with a burning gaze of the sun. Cat lifted her arms up, blocking the sun. Her mismatched eyes squinted, as she adjusted to the new lighting. Cat rested her left arm to the side, as the other was held above her head to give her eyes from shade.

Cat looked below the blue sky and orange sun, to see more open wasteland, as well as dozens of rocks and bones of creatures scattered everywhere. She grimaced at the thought that some of the bones could possibly be human.

With a long sigh, Cat looked over to the right, seeing a sort of round rock formation of brown rock, standing tall and mighty. Although, they were everywhere. The land was so deformed and destroyed.

Cat glanced around, seeing a billboard. Wait, she's seen that one before. It said 'Prosperity Junction:The Future is on Rails.' She even recognized the dead hanging body of bones decaying, slightly swaying back and forth from the noose of torn rope. Yeash. The billboard all broken and torn, pieces of it falling off, meanwhile some just lay on the ground. It was even tilted to the right, a bottom point resting in the sand.

"0.2 miles away…" Cat muttered, reading the smaller words of the sign. Not bad. That's about a few minute walk. But she needed to find dumb and dumber. There was probably a third, because who would need a sign saying a town is like an inch away from you? Seriously. If there were no rocks, that could it a mile away!

There was no way she could see, not past the rocks. Getting some high ground could help her spot Rhys. But her legs throbbed from the walking. She didn't have time to complain as she began her descent.

She decided to climb a non steep one, making her way up fast. She almost fell a few times, hitting stubs. But thanks to apart of her robot leg, it was easier. Half of her right side of her body limbs was robotic, some parts flesh and bone, and then some of it filling with metal. The same coloring of her robotic arm.

It was nice to walk on something hard, instead of her boots sinking into the sand. Rocks wasn't really an improvement though. She swore she could fall into quicksand any second.

After grabbing onto an edge, she pulled herself up, the muscles in her arm straining. However, she made it to the top, being several yards away from the ground. She didn't like heights. One of her biggest fears was heights. But, she knew she wasn't going to fall. And if she did, she would probably just break something.

"Fiona!" A fate voice yelled in the distance. "Come on! We can work this out!"

Cat glanced around, catching a figure walking in the distance. It stopped in front of the bill board sign. It was the stupid tall idiot out in the distance, holding a device in his hands. Cat viewed in with her ECHOeye, and saw that he was calling Fiona's name. Cat scoffed at that with a smile, shaking her head. Man, she was going to punch them both. The idea never seemed to escape her mind.

Rhys was looking around, trying to find Fiona. Cat could barely hear him, but she could read his lips with her ECHOeye, and tell what he was saying whenever his face came into view. He was rather far away though, it'd probably take her a couple minutes to walk there. He was right next to the billboard. So far away, she wanted to die. However, she wanted to see how this would play out. Maybe Fiona would pop out and kick him. There was only hope.

Cat wasn't expecting to see someone appear out of nowhere, dressed full in a suit for radiation. Was there a leakage anywhere? The suit was gray, with bits of red and black, with two yellow glowing lines on it's right shoulder. His boots were red with grey wrapping, with it's left leg having his pants fall over the boot as the other was stuffed inside the boot. He had a one-strap grey and brown bag wrapped around him, holding who knows. And it's face was covered in a mask, a short of gas mask, with one glowing orb of orange. Must be his way to see. However, it was topped with an odd shaped hat, looking like a bowl resting upside down on his head, a grey color with strong string supports keeping it on his head.

A small gasp escaped Cat's lips when she saw the stranger holding a shotgun in his hand. It was black, with a long red paint trail down on the barrel. Cat watched, now reaching for her Hyperion scoped pistol, with a silver and golden plating, strapped in her arm shoulder holster. She gripped it, feeling anxious.

Cat could feel herself gripping harder on her pistol, while she crouched down. Even though she was far away, she had perfect aim.

She watched impatiently meanwhile Rhys talked to the Stranger. Talking to fellow wanderers isn't exactly the best idea in all of Pandora. And one with a mask and shotgun, it just spelled bad news.

Cat was right. Soon enough, Cat had her arm out when she saw Rhys fall to the ground, having a red mark on his cheek, blood flying out of his mouth when the butt of the shotgun met his face. Cat aimed her gun, zooming in, having a clear shot of the stranger's forehead. Cat could feel her finger on the trigger, but didn't pull when she realized something was wrong. The stranger didn't shoot him, or ended the job of killing the unconscious Rhys who now laid on the sandy ground.

"What are you up?" Cat muttered to herself, moving a hand through the long bangs dangling into her sight of view. She rested her steady hands on the pistol, watching it aim towards the stranger, ready to kill if he tried anything funny.

However, the stranger simply fiddled with Rhys body, pushing him off of his stomach and onto his back. Looting, Cat assumed. However, when the stranger reached for his bag, Cat took a step forwards, ready to shoot and run into a full on sprint. But, the stranger simply pulled out what seemed to be duct tape. _Was he tying Rhys up?_ To Cat's thoughts, she was right. She watched as the stranger tied him arms to his side with loads of tape. Then to his ankles, so Rhys couldn't run away when he awoke.

Now that was interesting. Not that they haven't been kidnapped before, they have. But why him. The stranger was just a stranger. So why was he kidnapping Rhys. Maybe he was going to throw him into a bunch of Skags. Or throw him off a cliff. Or many other ways to kill him, since there's millions of ways to die on Pandora. But now it interested Cat. Where was he taking Rhys?

Cat had the choice to shoot him, and save Rhys. But then, if someone wanted to kidnap him, would that mean Rhys was in danger. Was there more than one of them? Is Rhys a target? What do they want from him? If so, she needed to follow without getting caught. She needed to see what the stranger was going at.

Soon enough, the stranger wrapped a metal hook around the tape at Rhys' ankles, and began to drag him. Seeming to drag him towards the path of nothingness, deeper inside the sweaty dessert. Cat took this as a notice to follow suit. Another adventure. She missed that.

Cat was careful when she leaped off the rock, almost falling on more rocks. However, once she landed on the ground with a cloud of dust and sand flying up from the impact, Cat watched as the stranger dragged Rhys in the distance. Now, it was sneaking time. Cat stayed close to any rocks and bushes and such to hide behind, in case the stranger decided to turn around at some point. Till he disappeared behind rocks and heat waves. _Why was be going towards the arrow that billboard had?_

 _Why did people like to try to take them? Or hurt them?_ Cat honestly thought it was a hobby for people. Even since they landed on that planet, people have been trying to track them down, trying to kidnap them, or kill them. Why can't someone just walk up to them, give them a handshake and have a small chat. Was that too much to ask for?

However, it did interest Cat. The only reason why this stranger would kidnap Rhys that came to mind for Cat was that he wanted to use his as a sort of bargaining chip. He was the CEO of Atlas. Ex company man of Hyperion, _now_ CEO of Atlas. Quite a big leap. And a very successful leap. He was getting loads of money, and even now building on Pandora, selling to other planets and galaxies. He was slowly making his way on the list of being a successful company. Rhys would hire Cat for mercenary work, but Cat was also the main engineer for Atlas. So she had really good pay.

As for Fiona, Cat wasn't sure. Now to think of it, where was she? Did she also happen to see what happened to Rhys? If so, then she was probably laughing her ass off. Cat would too, however this situation has too many questions to laugh about.

Cat soon had sight of the stranger again, who slowly was moving Rhys as he walked into the middle of the desert.

Seeing the trag marks on the ground, Cat could follow them easily while keeping her distance. Rhys is going to be so mad when he finds all the dirt on his back.

Cat snickered at that, imagining him complaining about it.

She could even see some Rakk above in the sky. Just… _lovely, deadly creatures._ Hopefully she won't have to kill those. They were annoying. They were circling, she noticed. Now to think of it, the stranger might be feeding them. They might be his lovely, deadly pets.

Cat looked to the left slightly, seeing in the distance that the stranger and Rhys were moving further away. Cat noticed to how the land was slightly up, having a long and wide, but short hill in the middle. She could travel on the other and not be noticed. So that's what she did. Cat walked on the other side of the hill, meanwhile the stranger and Rhys were on the other side, far up ahead. Thank you, sand dunes.

Cat would bop her head up every now and then to see if they were still heading the same way. Cat found this amusing, but yet annoying. Mainly because they were going off track, they lost Fiona, and that the stranger punched Rhys in the face and only Cat could do that.

She couldn't understand how the Stranger lived in his body suit. His name is now, the Stranger, because Cat believes it sounds badass. But still, the Stranger, being in full clothing. _Was he dying? Maybe he had some cooling system in his suit._ Cat wished she had one. It was dying hot outside.

Once again bopping her head up, she saw that Rhys was stirling, at what seemed to be ten minutes. Finally.

Cat watched close as he awoke, making sure he was alright. He squinted his eyes, guessing the sun hurt them. He looked around, seeming disoriented. He then finally rested his eyes on the Stranger, now glaring at the Stranger. "What is happening right now?"

"I ask the questions." The Stranger said. His voice sounded odd. Low, and sturdy. Very dominant. Male, definitely. But...robotic? Must be a sort of modifier. So why was he hiding his voice?

"Okay...Then do you mind asking yourself what you're doing?" Rhys said slowly, as if he was a child. Oh, his snarky comment was going to get him shot at one day.

What took Cat off guard was to how the Stranger stopped, dropping Rhys' legs, not caring if he brought harm to him of not. Cat stopped, now being too close to them, and crouched down, not to be seem, but still watched. The Stranger walked around Rhys' form, now at his left side, to where Cat could barely see him. And next thing she knew, he kicked Rhys in the side.

"Ooh, ah. Owww! What the hell?" Rhys yelled out in pain, glaring at the Stranger.

With this, the Stranger crouched down, one knee on the ground while his left arm was on his knee. "Tell me about the Gortys Project."

 _The Gortys Project? The hell? How does he know about the Gortys Project? More importantly,_ why _does he care about the Gortys Project?_ Nobody knew about it. Or at least, almost everyone who knew is dead. But the Project is dead, abandoned, gone. Woosh, outta here. But then this guy knows. And why does he care? Is he a sort of Vault Hunter? If he was, does Cat even stand a chance?

"Is that what this is about? Look, Gortys is bad business. If you want a real hot investment, I am on the ground floor of some property on Eden-Okay! Okay. Okay. Okay." Rhys panicked, saying it out quickly once the Stranger pointed his shotgun at Rhys' place where the sun doesn't shine. Cat quickly aimed her gun, ready to fire if he did so.

"Don't be a smart-ass." The Stranger growled, poking Rhys' crouch once as a sort of threat, then lifted his gun away in both of his hands, now standing up.

The Stranger wasn't wrong, though. Rhys was a smart-ass. But Cat was better at it.

"I'm not a patience person." The Stranger said, now walking away, to pick up the hook he dropped on the ground, and lifted Rhys' legs up. "So just start talking." He said, now dragging Rhys once again.

"Just...Where do you start when you're getting dragged through the desert and uh…" Rhys started.

"From the beginning." The Stranger said, now looking at the town that Cat failed to notice.

Cat stared at the town, seeing it was abandoned. "Prosperity Junction." Cat said, reading the words that were being held above the clock, indicating the main hall. However, the yellow words were missing the letter T. The town was small, with metal buildings covered in dust and rust, showing paints of black, brown, red, and so on. Broken cars littered the place, doors and glass broken. Cat glared at it, not trusting it. There were sorts of railing system above the town. Although, no train was to be seen. There was a huge building in the back, with the main leading road leading towards the building. It had bits of the ceiling sticking out, clearly broken. If this was a bandit camp, Cat wasn't sure if she could take them on. She's met bandits before, and fought them, but a town this huge could hold hundreds. But this Stranger doesn't look like the type, nor acts like one. The thought of him being a Vault Hunter still lingers.

Cat smirked, remembering a Vault Hunter the name of Zer0 they met awhile ago, who had asked about a Gortys Project.

Cat watched as Rhys rambled on talking about what happened. However, with the Stranger seemed distracted, Cat took the chance to run towards the buildings, now running out of the hill, her being in the complete open. Cat ran for it, feeling her feet sink into the sand, as she ran towards the building. Once she made it, she ran into the door, now inside, and slowly closed the door. It screeched a little, having the rust making it impossible to close. Cat left it slightly ajar, panting at the short run. Cat holstered her gun, leaning against a wall. The room was dark, and it was hard to see.

Cat hoped the Stranger didn't see her. Or heard her. If so, she'll be needing her gun soon. She slowly rested her hand on the holster, feeling the warm metal of the gun pressing on her fingers.

Cat turned on her ECHOeye, it glowing a purple in the dark room. The shade felt nice. But, she lifted her hand, having a purple light appearing from her arm, using it as a sort of flashlight. It lit up the room, and she saw how empty it was. Just some desks, shelves, broken if she might add, with chairs and such. Even some loots crates, which were open, showing nothing but emptiness. That place was clearly looted, as all the shelves and drawers were open and empty. Cat growled at her luck, and shifted her head around, taking notice of the door across from her, with the light of the outside at the rims of it. Cat walked towards it, her booted heels walking on the metal, making satisfying clicks on the ground. She pushed it open slightly, turning off the light of her hand, and peeked her head outside. The sun burnt her eyes, she had liked the dark room. She squinted her eyes as she looked, seeing that she was in an ally. She turned to the left, seeing the main road entrance, seeing that the Stranger had dropped Rhys on the ground, holding his shotgun up, as if he was looking for something. He must have heard her. Cat slowly closed the door, to where only her eye could peek through.

Rhys looked at the Stranger unimpressed. "Look, I didn't hear anything. I don't know what you're rambling about." Rhys said, but Cat could tell he was lying. He must know it was Cat. She was the only person who could know his location.

Cat grinned at that. Rhys, although annoying and can be an idiot, did have his moments of being awesome. However, the Stranger did not seem to believe him.

The Stranger just looked, holding his shotgun up. Cat was unsure of what to do. Either go out, blow her cover, or stay hidden. She could feel the blood bumping through her faster, man she missed the adrenaline rush. However, a Stranger with a shotgun in a small area, with the idea that he might be a Vault Hunter was a scary thought.

She decided the best idea was move from her spot. Cat moved away from the rusty door, and slowly moved back from it. She made her way towards the other door she came in, which would face the desert. She could see the light from the door, but she decided not to turn on her light, so she accidently kicked and almost tripped on a few things.

Going out wasn't the best idea, getting caught and all. But, she had to move before the Stranger started to investigate. But Cat knew he wasn't a bandit, since Cat didn't see a single sign of one. This was once a flourishing town, but then she came back to see it was abandoned. Flourishing is a strong word. It was more like… a jailhouse. Maybe bandits took it over, and then left. It would explain why everything was missing. But what happened to Shade?

Shade was someone they ran into at some point, but it doesn't matter.

Cat opened the door, now seeing the desert she walked through earlier. The sun didn't hurt her eyes as much, but she still lifted an arm above her head to shade her eyes. She groaned at the sun, hating it.

Cat stepped out, feeling that her heeled boots had slightly sinked into the desert ground once again. She hated walking on it. Any moment, she could step in quicksand. That death would be ironic.

However, a shotgun to the head wouldn't be as much. Cat had looked over, and she jumped, surprised, and little gasp leaving her. She didn't expect to see the barrel of the shotgun at her cheek. Oh, this guy was good. Cat cursed at herself, not noticing he went that way. He must have heard the source of the door opening, and came around.

The Stranger was more terrifying up close. The bright orange light was piercing. But what was hiding behind was nagging at her. No clue to who the Stranger was. He was tall, Cat noted. As well as scary looking. Did she say that already? Ah, who cares. Big guy, glowing orb, and shotgun. Oh right. The uh… shotgun.

Cat stared wide eyed at the the shotgun, to where she could almost smell the gunpowder on it. Cat gave a sheepish smile, raising her hands up in the air. "Hi-Uph!" She grunted, feeling the butt of the shotgun meeting her cheek with a welcoming hug. Guess the Stranger likes to hit people with his shotgun. A lot of people liked to hit people on that planet.

"What a steaming load of skagg crap." A female voice said. A sarcastic one, at that.

"Well, well, look who decided to show her face. I was just about to get to my favorite part. You know, where you come in and ruin my life you no class, scheming, Pandoran scum!" A male voice said, starting tranquil and cheerful, to a booming and frustrated yelling voice of rage.

"Oh, nice haircut you lying Hyperion jackass."

"It is a nice haircut!"

"Oh, shut up!" Soon there was kicking, the feeling of sand moving and dust filling the air.

"Stop it. Stop it! You're getting dirt in my eye!"

"Well, that sucks, cause I'm trying to get it in your lying mouth!"

Soon the kicking stopped, the noise of sand being pushed around came to an end. "Alright, alright! Mission accomplished!"

"Shut… up…" Cat half groaned, half whined. Of course she knew she would wake up to those two morons bickering at each other. That was about every day when the old group of friends were forced to be working together. Man, how she missed that. However, she didn't miss the constant fighting between the two. Agh, it was annoying.

"Is she, like. Alright?" She could hear Fiona ask hesitantly.

Cat felt a light kick on her foot, but she only groaned in response.

"Hey, you alive?" Rhys asked.

"Screw off…" Cat said. She had a pulsating headache, and she did not want to get up. Not that she could anyway, as she felt something bounding her arms and ankles. Till she realized that it was probably tape. Was this Stranger some sort of tape man, where was he getting it all from?

However, Cat was greeted with a hard kick to her right side, causing her to groan out from the sudden pain. "What the hell?" She yelled, opening her tired eyes, seeing that she was in some sort of shade, looking up at the blue sky. She could see the Stranger in her vision, looking down at her. Cat tried to move her robotic hand up to her holster, only to find that she couldn't move her hands. She scowled, glancing down to see that the holster was empty. She glared at the stranger with growing frustration as she saw her pistol was on the leg of the Stranger, being held by his boot.

"Your turn." The Stranger said.

Cat only cocked an eyebrow up. "About?" She questioned, lifting her head, seeing that Rhys laid right beside her to her left, as Fiona was tied up in duct tape as well, leaning against the wall. Cat noted the dirt was lined from the kicking earlier, seeing some of it's remains on Rhys' suit and face.

Cat glared at the two of them, clarifying that it was their fault they were there. Cat saw how Fiona glared back, but Rhys looked down with guilt, with his right brown eye and his yellow glowing left eye. He was wearing his black suit, with the yellow glowing buttons, with his shirt a bit down, unbuttoned to where you his blue tattoos. And his new haircut was nice, all his brown hair pulled back expect two strands that fell on his forehead. It was a pretty nice hair cut.

Meanwhile Fiona's was the same short brown hair, with the pink line through her bangs. The bangs were pulled to her left side of her face, forming her face perfectly. She wore her tradition jacket, the collar up as always, with the pink trims. Her jacket was black, with the sleeves being grey, rolled up to her elbows. She also had arm bracer the color of black on. Under it was a white long sleeved shirt, with the chest showing as it connected to her neck, two bits of string keeping it together. She then wore a dark pink vest under it, with two black straps keeping it together. Her jacket was lop sided, one side being longer than the other, as her right side almost went down to her knee, and the other side to her thigh, with the black belt under that side meanwhile the other side the belt was over. She then had a strap on her left leg, over her grey pants. And was fitted with black boots that went to her knees, having bits of grey on it, with heels that added an inch or so to her height. Oh, and Cat almost forgot. Her traditional hat, the color of black, as it rested on her head.

Cat looked back up at the Stranger, who looked down at her. She saw the shotgun in his large gloved hands, and she could feel her right cheek throbbing. It was probably cut and bruised from that weapon.

"You side of the deal. Tell me." The Stranger said, gripping his gun as he talked with a demanding voice.

"You couldn't have asked me first? You kidnapped me hours ago." Fiona said with an annoyed tone. It's been hours? How long was Cat out? She did notice to how the sun was further across the sky, showing that it might sunset in an hour or two. With the walls and ceilings of buildings reach out, it gave them a nice shade. But, it still looks like Prosperity Junction. Were they just being dragging aimlessly for hours till Rhys stopped telling his side of the story, and came back here. Maybe the Stranger knew they would fight each other. But then that means he might know them. But how-?

"I guess I could've." The Stranger said, looking at Fiona.

"You guess? I've been baking in the sun with rakk's dive bombing me for the last-"

 _ **BANG**_

Cat squinted her eyes shut from the shotgun being fired into the sky, seeming to shut Fiona up. Cat's headache was increased even more.

"Yeah, okay… I get it…" Fiona said, seeming to back away from the conversation.

Cat then saw how the Stranger turned back to her once she opened her mismatched eyes. "Talk."

Cat looked unimpressed, her eyebrows up, with her eyelids covering half her eyes, with her lower lip out, like she was looking at something she was unsure if she wanted to buy it or buy. But then her expression changed to a more playful one, with her eyes fully open and a big dopey grin. "Talk. Okay, alright. Hm… Let me think. Oh, okay. Well, I like to read. I like coffee. I don't like it when people are tieing me up with duct tape in the middle of the desert. I like long walks on the beach-"

 _ **BANG**_

Cat stared with wide eyes, but then relaxed as she saw the shotgun aimed up in the sky. "I don't need two smart-asses." The Stranger said.

Cat glared at the Stranger, a look that could kill. She frowned unhappily, till that frown was replaced with a warm smile, but anyone could see the cocky mischief in her smile.

"But it's part of my charm." Cat whined, grinning. She loved this.

Well, she did till the shotgun was aimed directly at her forehead. She stared at it wide eyed as her lips went ajar, a lost at words. But then she chuckled awkwardly, hoping that the Stranger would get that she was joking. But he didn't seem to take notice as he leaned the shotgun even further towards her. Cat tried to crawl back, no scared that she might have crossed the line of the man's patience.

Her feet fiddled, feeling like she had one leg all over again since they were bound together. Cat's upper body wasn't tied though, as her hands were only tied around her back. It didn't feel like tape though, more like rope. Guess he knew tape wouldn't hold her. Or he just ran out of tape.

She chuckled nervously, now sitting upwards as she tried to crawl away. However, the shotgun acted like an animal when it tracked it's prey.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rhys said, shifting away. He wanted to try to stop the mishap with the gun, but he couldn't do anything when he was taped up.

 _This is it. This is how I die. A smart-ass from the beginning, till the end_. Welp, it would be a hell of a way to go. She was happy.

Cat stared wide eyed at the barrel, as it now rested on her forehead. "Hey, wow! Get that thing. Out of her face." Rhys said indignant, trying to be threatening. But it seemed to do nothing.

"Hey, chill dude!" Fiona said, glaring at the Stranger.

It was quiet, as Cat just stared at the gun. Till she looked up, seeing the Stranger was looking down at her. Cat laughed nervously once again, a sly smile on her face. "Heheh, heh… Uh… Would you… like to talk, about, your feelings, er something? I mean, you did want to talk-" Cat continued to pull the wire, since she was gonna die anyways, why not make it big or go home.

She stopped in her words as the shotgun barrel pressed against her forehead, her head now being forced to lean back. The tip burned slightly from the recent fire, the feeling a tingle on her forehead. "Okay, okay. I'll shut up…"

The shotgun was soon gone from her head, Cat now leaving a deep sigh of relief. That was close. Yet, he didn't shoot her, so he wanted her alive. So now she knew she can be a dick all the time whenever she wanted. Yes.

The Stranger took a few steps back, lowering his shotgun, staring at Cat. It was silent, as he took a moment to think.

"I can't tell if you're making a face under there, or-" Fiona began, till the Stranger aimed his shotgun at her. Fiona stared wide eyed at the shotgun."Okay, okay. I'll stop talking."

"Thank you." Rhys muttered, which was only met with Fiona kicking him in the side. "Ow!" He whined, but Fiona only glared at him.

The Stranger then looked back at Cat, who was staring back. "Okay," Cat started. "So… I guess it all started with Rhys getting a promotion."

 _ **Bing**_

 _ **Bing**_

 _ **Bing**_

 _ **Bing**_

"Stop it…" Cat groaned as she opened her eyes, to see that she was resting on the desk. She didn't move for a bit, as she felt her head and her arms on the desk, and she looked at the right side of her desk. Her mismatched eyes squinted from the bright blue light of her laptop. She could only see the white lines of words and files she was working on last night.

 _ **Bing**_

Cat felt like ripping her eye out. She felt murderous. Having a robotic eye was not fun. Well, it can, but it has pros and cons. A con being the stupid thing making a noise in her head every time she got a text. She also had a port on the side of her head. Originally, she had only lost her right arm, but later on Rhys convinced her to get an ECHOeye and a port so they could be _twinnies~_. And she did. Not only she could use to scan stuff, but work with, but it also made her look like a badass.

Cat lifted her body up, now leaning against the black wheeled chair of her office. Her muscles ached, not sleeping in the best position in the world. She rested her tired arms on the arms of the chair, feeling the leather cling to the palm of her hands. Leather was nice and smooth. As well as cold. It was always naturally cold in Helios. Probably because it was floating in the middle of space. Or maybe it just shooted the feelings of the cold hearted dicks on the space station. Either way, it was cold. Always cold. Always annoying.

Looking around the office, seeing the drool on the desk slightly disgusted Cat. But the mess of the office as well. She was in her corner, with the desk and chair facing the metal door, while there were shelves holding books and files behind her. On the desk had a computer, as well as her personal laptop beside it The bright blue lights not doing well for Cat's eyes. However, the mess was far worse. Papers scattered everywhere, books and such on the ground. The papers pinned to the metal walls, of drawings of designs and blueprints. Bits of ink and oil being splattered on the desk, floor, and ground. Even pencils and pens, some broken or ink spilling out of it.

Looking further into her office, she saw all the equipment. Bits of tools scattered across the floor, some sticking out of random tool boxes. The room was filled with machines, some broken and other so advanced Cat was surprised she built them. Some were small and simple, meanwhile others would tower over her. She even had a broken Loader Bot sitting in the corner in pieces. There was equipment hanging from the ceilings, holding up machines and such. There were several machines hanging from the walls and ceiling as equipment for building. However, even a long light was only dangling from a string, as one side was on the floor. The lights were long and thin, lighting up the room. However, they were off. So the only light entering was the computer screens, and the three windows on the one wall to her right.

The windows was probably one of the best things about the office. It had the perfect view of Pandora down below. Although, the planet itself being a deathtrap, it was still beautiful from afar.

Pandora is a mysterious planet. It is a barren, desolate planet filled to the teeth of dangerous creatures and people. The planet was was still very intriguing, nonetheless.

Cat was born on Pandora, as spent most of her childhood down there. Her father had tried his best to protect her, her being a child as well as a few other things. But at some point, he didn't get back home. Cat was 7 at the time. A 7-year-old kid wandering around on a murderous planet, with so much blood on her hands. That kid had some serious trauma. However, she did have a baby Skag at some point. It actually was slightly domesticated, and didn't really attack people. Only it they approached Cat. So it was kinda hard hard to go to places with the baby Skag around. His name was Skaggy. He had this little blue marking on his right side of his face, as sort of sign. Skaggy was awesome. Skaggy will always be remembered. One day when Cat woke up, he was just gone. Nowhere to be found. She never saw him since. RIP.

Cat lived in a sort of treehouse down on Pandora. But it was also at the bottom of a mountain. Each room was disconnected, so they had bridges and ladders to connect to each other. It was awesome! Her room even had a loft bed, with bookshelves surrounding it. She missed it every now and then.

Of course, bandits would attack the home every now and then, so Cat had to learn how to fight. She's not the best, but she's not bad. She's more… logical when it comes to fights. Cat had set up multiple automatic snipers around the home, owned by her father's engineering and looting skills. She had all the angles to snipe them. And then she had her pistol, the one she has now. It did have a few new advancements, but still amazing nonetheless. The scope was a big help, since it helped with the aim. And with that, the bandits seemed to be more of target practice than threats as the years went on.

For food and water, there was a lake close by that she used, and she had a small farm as well. But she mainly grew potatoes, and now she hates potatoes. Even anything involving potatoes. Like french fires. Screw them. Her friends called her a monster for not liking french fries. It wasn't her fault she had good taste.

Cat never really explored Pandora, but she knew of the things being held in it. Such as the creatures. Skags, Larva Crab Worms, Scythid, Drifters, Spiderants, Rakk Hives, Varkids, Bullymongs, Threshers, Sand Worms, Scaylions, Boroks, Crystalisks, and so many other dangerous creatures that want to pull your face off! A lot of the major fauna on Pandora are aggressively protective of their territory, and an approach is usually met with an immediate attack. However, with all the time a dozens species on Pandora, there are many undiscovered species as well. Even bugs! Which is kinda gross, but still! The species, no matter how dangerous they are, fascinated Cat. There was a herd of Skagg in front of her house once, and she watched them for hours in awe.

There was no domesticated animal on Pandora. At all. Cat has never seen one on that planet, ever. The closest was Skaggy, but he was just a baby Skagg who liked humans more than Skags. There were friendly-house pets. Surprising not murderous. But they were on other planets. Cat only began to see other planets after she got to Helios. were all of them murderous. Maybe on other planets. Cat hasn't seen of other planets before she got onto Helios. Other planets' there was domesticated pets, but Pandora it's really, _really_ rare. Like Vault rare. Well, not Vault rare, but just very very rare.

The marine was a mystery to Cat. She's never touched an ocean in her life, and she barely even put her ankles in the water at the pond next to her home. But never has she seen any marine life on Pandora. Maybe the waters around might be polluted or something. There were big oceans on Pandora, but Cat has never heard of any stories about marine life. Guess people try to avoid the waters.

There is, however, flora life on Pandora. There is a variety of plants on Pandora. Although, the local flora is sparse in many areas. However, some plants were...off? Such as the analogues that resemble cacti with orange glowing _eyes_. As in, freaking _**eyes**_. They were found throughout the desert environment of the Arid Badlands and beyond. But there are many other creepy plants, such as mushrooms, Rust Commons, trees, Bladeflowers, Firemelons. Even some of the plant life is dangerous! Literally everything wants to kill you!

Cat was still surprised to this day that she got off that dangerous planet. When she turned 19, she headed out to get more supplies. It was a sort of run for her. There was a town about a day's walk away that she would get new supplies that she might need. Cat was the tinker type. She read the books from her father to get any type of education she could, and a lot of the books was about machines and guns and whatnot. Cat was even able to built a New-U system inside her home. However, she never actually tested it out before, nor does she want to. She couldn't grasp the thought of coming back to life after dying. The machine was full of wonders, and she wasn't sure if she liked those wonders.

The New-U Stations that are scattered all over Pandora are antenna-like terminals, primarily located at outposts and transition points. The New-U Station serves a vital function for people who went to go have their name on it, such as Vault Hunters. It stores a person's DNA against the possibility of 'accidental death or dismemberment.' Cat shivered at that. The machine digistructs an entirely new body to replace the recently deceased one. The 'new you' will appear at the last station the person had last activated. There are two versions of the New-U Station. The interactive models are mainly located at major towns or outposts. The smaller, non-interactive versions are scattered in less populated areas. But, the two types do the same thing, they act as a save point, or a sort of auto-save, if you will. A respawn point in case someone were to die. It was kinda like a video game, except every time you die, you have to pay. Coming back to life ain't cheap. Plus, the more money you got, the more it charges you. As well as you have to pay $500 monthly for it. Cat decided it was worth it, after an accident from one of her inventions. But it was worth the comfort of knowing if she got blown up, she would be safely outside in the hallway.

There were several New-U stations around the station of Helios. Since some people are paranoid that someone might kill them to get a promotion, and such. Which is understandable, since at least a single person dies every week. But, there were thousands of people working on the station. Plus more down on different planets.

Hyperion was a rather big company, and Cat was proud to be a part of it. The Helios moonbase is a colossal space station. After it's completion, Handsome Jack moved Helios to orbit above Pandora's moon Elpis. Helios can be seen in the sky if you were standing on Pandora. The moonbase manages to stay in a perfect luna-and geostationary orbit between Pandora and Elpis, allowing it to keep its eye trained on all the Hyperion operations at all times.

Helios was a rather deadly station. It is capable of launching orbital assaults known as moonshot blitzes which are capable of devastating the target's areas, and can also send a ground assault almost anywhere by launching loaders and constructors. It was crazy. Having a bunch of missiles and robots being launched at you from the sky meanwhile you were running away on the ground. There wasn't really a point in running, anyways, since Helios can see half the planet 27/4. But, one of Helios' most powerful weapons is "The Eye of Helios." Very intimidating. Especially since it basically shoots a massive laser at Pandora. It's a massive laser consisting of multiple smaller lasers to destroy almost any landscape where it is fired at. Many questions pondered on what powered it, but barely anyone knew, except for the CEO and the higher ups working above everyone else.

Cat wasn't like the other workers, but she wasn't at the top. She is _The Engineer of Hyperion_ , so she got a crap ton of money, and was famous in her work. Her job was basically creating new inventions, new robots, new guns. Once she got something, she'd send the blueprints down and workers would get to work to create more if it was good money. Cat led the engineering business, and people would call her one of the 'Higher Ups,' but Cat didn't feel like it. Sure, she was in charge of a lot of things. And by a lot, she meant a _lot_ of things. But she was still human. Heck, even most of her friends were just accountants. Well, one is getting a promotion.

Promotion… Promotion, promotion, promotion… "Shit! The promotion!" Cat said outloud, practically jumping out of her chair, while it flung back onto it's back on the ground. She could feel and hear about every bone in her body crack, as she did not due her daily stretches yet. But that didn't matter right now! She was suppose to meet Rhys and Vaughn at Mr. Henderson's office to give him some luck, and then have lunch afterwards to celebritate. She completely forgot! What great friend she was. Deserves a friggin reward.

Cat quickly used her ECHOeye, checking through the messages she kept on receiving. Soon, on her eye to where only she could see, a HUD appeared, showing the messages from Vaughn and Rhys.

Vaughn:  
Hey, you excited for Rhys' promotion!  
Hello?  
You alive?  
If you got exploded by something you decided to whip up, I swear I will kill you.  
Did you forget the promotion?  
If you fell asleep in your office again, I swear.  
Rhys:  
Heyyyyy, buddy. I am freaking out right now!  
Hey?  
Are you ignoring me because I accidently spilled coffee on you yesterday?  
It was an accident!  
I promise I'll buy you coffee today!  
Hello?  
If you're snoozing, you know Vaughn will literally kill you. You know how he is.  
Hello?  
Cat couldn't help but facepalm. She groaned loudly in annoyance at her own stupidity. _How_ could she forget? It was Rhys' promotion. Yesterday, Mr. Henderson, the Senior Vice President of Hyperion Securities Propaganda, had emailed him about a promotion. He was told to meet him a bit before lunch time. It was already the afternoon! Rhys had been sucking up to guy for three years, and now he's finally getting a promotion! It was suppose to be something big, like, mega big. Possibly even his own position since Mr. Henderson was almost 50. He might be retiring and giving Rhys his spot!

Ohhhhhh, Rhys was never going to forgive her.

 _Cat:_

 _Hey, sorry. I will be there in a few minutes._

 _Rhys:_

 _Well, you better hurry up. I might be running late as it is._

With that, Cat quickly tried to get ready. Being in Hyperion, it was a place of charm and fanciness. Which Cat didn't have the time for. But she had to look... _decent_ , before roaming the halls. Sadly enough, she still had some digitiny… Sort of.

Cat quickly changed out of her outfit that she was comfortable in. A pair of light-blue jeans. A long sleeved yellow shirt, the front having the Hyperion logo, as the right sleeve was cut off, showing off the amazing Hyperion work of her robotic arm. And she wore a white button up shirt, buttoned up and all, with the right sleeve rolled up. Then the outfit was fitted with her black boots, with yellow on the bottom. Of course, heeled. She also had to throw off the golden goggles that rested on top of her head. Her old outfit had oil splatters on it, and even some on her face. She'll have to take a shower later.

The new outfit was more appropriate for where she was heading. Long men's dress pants, the left side being dark grey, the right side being a grey. It was bottomed with black boots, heeled. Course she'd be wearing heels. She was 5'8'', but she liked to tower over others that were 5'10'' or below. Gave her a sort of dominant feeling. The black boots were laced with grey shoelaces, it being combat boots with a touch of fancy, oddly enough. It had bits of grey every now and then. But, she changed the white button up shirt with a purple one, it being her favorite color. Then over it, was a teal tie that was placed on the buttoned grey vest, going under the vest. The vest was a light grey, with the top being a dark grey, the pattern being a honeycomb bee pattern. She then fiddles with the collar, making sure it was even. Then, she felt the Hyperion logo on the chest of the vest, as if to make sure it was still there.

Cat was riffling through her outfit, making sure it didn't have any markings and such as she closed the drawer that was in one of the desk in her office. Since she was in her office a lot, she decided it would be a good idea to stuff some clothes in there.

Cat rolled the sleeve up to her elbow on her robot arm, seeing the purple lights on it glow brightly. She was about to do the same with her left arm, till she fought against it, because of reasons.

Fixing her messed up bun, she fixed it to a tight high bun on the her head, looking professional.

 _ **Bing**_

Cat jumped at the sudden noise, it startling her out of the blue. She was a jumpy one.

 _Rhys:_

 _Any time would be great._

 _Cat:_

 _So does that coffee._

Cat smirked.

 _Cat:_

 _I'm on my way._

Cat grabbed the brown one strap bag that was now on the ground, originally on the once standing chair. Cat didn't bother to pick up the chair, but grabbed the bag, seeing what treasures it held. The brown leather journal still inside, the papers of files inside, her phone, wallet, etc etc. Okay, she got everything.

She began to head to the metal door, the glowing red button next to it. She had to install that due to several assassination attempts because of her position. Cat tried to make friends to make sure on one stabbed her in the back, but sometimes people are just pricks, and Cat doesn't like it when people are pricks.

Cat stopped dead in her tracks, now realising she forgot something. Her I.D card. She patted her pockets, checked her bag, then checked her pockets once again, but found nothing. _Where did I put the darn thing?_ Cat thought to herself, a frustrated emotion on her face as she frowned and her eyebrows furrowed.

Cat walked back to her desk, searching and throwing the stuff off her desk. There was papers, files, books, small minnie shelves, cups full of pens and pencils, and so on. She really needed to clean the place. She pushed stuff off the desk, not caring what fell onto the cold metal floor, till she pushed something that her heart actually skipped a beat.

The white frame holding a photo had fallen off the edge of the desk, and Cat noticed just a moment later. She instinctively reached down for it, having a hard time reaching for it with the heels giving her a few inches boost up. But, she felt the cool metal curl into her fingers as she caught the small frame.

Cat sighed with a relief as she stood straight up, staring at the small frame. Or, more like staring into the picture.

Cat and her old best friend. Cat had her arm around the other's neck, meanwhile the other had his arm wrapped over her shoulder and ruffling her neck. The two smiling at the camera with a cheerful smile. Cat missed him. Handsome jack.

Lots of people found it strange that Cat and him were once best friends. It was actually a really long story. A very interesting one.

Cat sighed sadly at it. She sure did miss him. Even though a lot of his methods Cat did not agree to. Once he had changed into something else.

Handsome Jack soon became the new CEO when Cat met him. And CEO as in, the big ole owner of the bloody company, Hyperion CEO. Yeah. Really important dude. He was the reason Hyperion skyrocketed with month. Handsome Jack was a trillionaire, no joke. The company had outlasted all the others. Jacobs, Dahl, Atlas, and more. But Jack was different. And by that, insane. He was a hero, at a point. But the constant betray he had to go through, it was heartbreaking to see. And also to see what came out of it. At some point, after he was trying to go after a Vault, of course, he had gotten himself killed. Cat wasn't herself for weeks. All that happened months ago. Almost a year, actually. But the fact that he was gone still shocked her. And even since he passed, Hyperion has been falling.

Jack was her best friend at the time, or she thought. She wasn't sure what to think of him. Yes, they had nice moments and bad moments, but she wasn't sure if it was because they were friends, or just because she was the main engineer. But, he also never tried to kill her. Well, only the first time they met. Kinda. It's complicated.

Cat shook her head, now remembering she was looking for something. She placed the frame down on the desk, it being next to two other frames. One having Rhys, Vaughn, and Yvette with Cat. And the other having Felix, Iliana and Benedict with Cat.

Cat smiled. She loved her friends. She was lucky to have them. She wouldn't be where she is today without them. The smile grew more at the thought of when those pictures were taken.

The one with Rhys, Vaughn and Yvette, each other wrapping an arm around each other with an ice cream cone in each hand, all of them outside in the sun. How she missed the feeling of the sun. That day was when Cat actually got her promotion, in person with Handsome Jack. After that, her friends had gone out to celebrate, down at a Vaughn's home planet, since it was the closest. Cat laughed and shook her head when she remembered Rhys and Vaughn tried to do this stupid stunt where they had to jump down a pair of stairs. It didn't go well.

The other picture with Alex, Iliana and Benedict was Benedict's birthday. They each were hugging each other, holding Benedict in the air while he wore a birthday hat. They too were outside, but it was night. The cool night, and the shining stars. Ohhhh, it was so peaceful. Till someone had decided to slam the cake into Benedict's face. The food fight that happened next. Cat laughed. It was fun. Till the remembered that they were at a cafe, and the owner made them all clean up and paid him extra money. Man, they were stupid that night. Stupidly funny.

Cat quickly then began to search for the ID card, moving the frames to see that it was hidden behind it. Convenient. She quickly swiped it off the desk, and began for the metal door. She glared at the card, who hid from her. It had her picture, same outfit, with a big smile. Cat adjusted her black glasses to see it better. Even though she had an ECHOeye, one of her eyes were bad. She read the information on the card.

 _Name: Cat Ellie Fritz._

 _Gender: Female_

 _Age: 26_

 _Height: 5'8''_

Blah blah blah. It just held information about her to help identify her. She made it to the keypad next to the door, seeing the bright red light shining bright. Cat held her ID card up, and swiped it through the keypad, now attaching it to the black leather belt around her waist. She then shifted the bag wrapped around her slightly over where she placed the ID card. Who knows who might want to swipe it away. Seriously, it's happened before.

The metal doors slid open into the walls, as now revealed the hallway. The old, boring hallway. Nothing special… Just a hallway. Why did hallways always scare Cat, she was unsure. Maybe because it was so boring that something was just bound to happen. Agh.

Cat exited her office, as the doors behind her slid shut. About every hallway was the same. Some had windows, some didn't. Some had doors, some didn't. Some had plants. Well all of them had plants. Guess it was to make up for the emptiness of it. But, the walls did have framed pictures to look at when you walk by. Some showing new projects, such as weapons or buildings, meanwhile others had pictures of Pandora and so on. Even some had pictures of Handsome Jack. Every time she saw it, she would gleam, but also fall deep into a world of depressing thoughts.

However, that didn't matter right now. She had to hurry to get to Rhys and Vaughn. Was she already too late? Good thing that Mr. Henderson office was close. He was also a 'Higher Ups.' So Cat began to jog down the hallway to the right. She had to get there soon. No, she had to get there _now_.

Cat hated roaming the halls of Helios. Awkwardly passing by people, some looking at her in shock to who she were. Cat hated the attention. As well as the stares. And the rumors. People on Helios were like fleas, flying around and biting whatever they can get, and one of those things was rumors and drama. One time it was so bad, Cat was forced to throw someone out an airlock. Not that she wanted to. But the guy was threatening her with a gun, because he thought Cat was talking trash about him and his work, trying to get him fired.

The hallways felt endless. Although, Helios was practically endless. It took days to see everything on the station. And now having to run all around it, it took her ages to memorize the place. But that doesn't change the fact that Helios is huge!

One of the many reasons why it is, is not only because of the work, but because of the apartments. There were apartments on the station. Very expensive apartments. Since it was getting busy in the docking bays where workers fly in and out to get to work and go home, it was getting to complicated and people were just getting late for work. So they began building apartments years ago. It was like dorms. You pay rent and all. It did save money than owning a spacecraft and flying back and forth from a different planet. Who knew how long it could take. Which is the reason why the apartments were expensive. Cat had to roommate with a few people to live on Helios, Felix, Benedict and Iliana. That's how they all met. Four people living in an apartment. After a while, once Cat got her promotion, she was usually paying most of the apartment bills, while everyone else payed to electricity, water, food, etc. It was a fair deal. And then Rhys, Vaughn and Yvette roomed together. Cat only met them by spilling her coffee on Rhys once on one of her first couple of days working at Helios. It was terrible.

Cat slowed down on her tracks once she heard evil laughing and 'whoo hoos' coming around the corner. She squinted her eyes as she glared, knowing it was Psychos.

Psychos. Sheesh. Crazy, insane bandits. Psychos are deranged maniacs commonly armed to about everything. Guns, axes, grenades, so on. They are sadly a frequent sight among bandits, and are usually provided to be the front lines of any hostile bandit group. And oddly enough, they all seem to have the taste in clothing. All wearing cargo pants, the occasional sports rudimentary armor or tattoos, shirtless while wearing a white mask, but still almost identical. The psychos have become insane for the freakish obsession for the Vault. Worst thing about that, is anyone can identify them for their homicidal cries, psychotic laughter and constant desire to get into close combat. As well as a desire for meat and flesh. And Rhys says she has horrible taste.

"Animals." Cat heard someone mutter around the corner. Well it wasn't really a corner. More like a space inbetween the halls to lead to the next one instead of going all the way down to round the corner. Cat walked slowly to the opening, peeking in to see two men working with two psychos. Their cationic laughter was nerve-racking, as they waved knives at the pyscho to pyscho as the two men watched. Like a study. It was terrible. Nobody deserves that. The two men were just messing around, meanwhile they could be helping the psychos getting back to be sane.

Cat noticed a man looked away to the other side of the opening, seeing two men standing there. Cat recognized them as Rhys and Vaughn. _Found them._ The man looked at Rhys with a sly grin, giving him the two guns as a sort of friendly greeting. Rhys just looked at shocked, of course showing on the inside that he did not like the dude, but did not want to break his heart. Cat snorted as Rhys held his hands to his chest as if he looked hurt from the fake friendly bullets the man sent, and Rhys looked at Vaughn for help. And Vaughn simply shrugged. Rhys looked back with an awkward grin, and did the same motion, showing two friendly finger guns at the other man.

The man simply looked at to the psychos, moving on. So then Rhys and Vaughn started to walk away. Cat took this as a moment to slide on through. Cat quickly took a step in, till she remembered the psychos. She stopped in her steps when she entered, and luckily, they didn't seem to notice, as the two psychos just tried to continue stabbing each other. However, the man did, and had an irritated expression.

"What are you doing in here?" He said, till he got a look of her face, and realized who she was. His expression of anger soon turned to shock. "O-Oh, uh. Y-Yes, h-hello, ma'am." He stumbled on his words, and Cat simply rolled her eyes as she walked past him. That guy was such a kissass. He was even the same towards Handsome Jack. No, more towards Handsome Jack. He treated the guy like he was god or something.

Cat made it out of the tiny hole in the wall, and looked to the left, to see Rhys and Vaughn walking away, not noticing her. She snorted when she saw Rhys point a finger gun at his head, and pretended to shoot himself. Probably annoyed from that kiss up guy. Cat noted to how Vaughn was rambling on and on about Rhys' promotion.

"Hey, guy." Cat said, jogging up to them. She was tired, yes. Jogging around the halls for minutes, searching for the two was annoying. As well as being awake for, like, 10 minutes? Around that. She didn't know, but all she knew is that she would like more sleep.

Rhys and Vaughn turned around as they stopped walking, seeing how it was. Once they did, a big dopey smile filled both of their faces.

Rhys, being much much taller than Vaughn, looked extremely happy today. He was wearing his traditional clothing, his Hyperion vest unzipped with the same bee honeycomb pattern on the top of it, with the logo on the his left side of his chest. He wore his blue button up shirt, his left side having white stripes while the other didn't. And his black plants had white stripes on his right side of his leg. Bottomed with weird grey scaled pointed shoes. Always odd. As well as he did his red shirt was similar to Cat's, with the right sleeve cut off to show off the work of Hyperion on their arms. Rhys' robotic arm was similar to Cat's, but it was yellow. And also had a white glowing power source. Cat noted how Rhys had gotten a new hair cut, his brown hair pulled back from gel. Rhys had a long face, with his straight nose. As well as his right eye being brown, and his left being a blue ECHOeye. Cat could just hear him saying ' _Twinniessssss!_ '

Vaughn was really short. As in short for a man. He was probably a couple inches shorter than her. Maybe he just looked short because he was always standing next to Rhys. The only reason why Cat was much taller than Vaughn right now was because of her heels. Also because he had a hunch in his back. Vaughn was also wearing his traditional clothing. His brown pants bottomed with grey man dress shoes, tipped with wore a white button up shirt, his sleeves slightly rolled up past his elbows. His vest was buttoned under, having the Hyperion logo sideways on his right side, which was a grey color, meanwhile on the other side of the vest was black. The black side had the bee honeycomb pattern as well. On the grey side, on his shoulder had a sort of yellow line starting from his shoulder and only went down to reach his chest. Then his collar was tied up with a black pointy bow tie. Bow ties are cool. People who know that reference are cool. Vaughn had his big nerdy glasses, the one that he uses for his accountant job. The glasses was about covering his light blue eyes. He didn't actually need glasses, unlike Cat. He also had a watch that he would use for his job, that laid on his right wrist. Vaughn's hair was fancy as always, it being short while his short bangs were pulled to his right. His bangs probably couldn't even reach half of his forehead. Or, some of them. But, his goatee beard was still looking neat.

"Finally! You're here!" Vaughn said. Cat couldn't tell if his voice was full of joy and cheerfulness, or an irritated annoyed voice. Probably both.

"Sorry it took me so long. I kinda fell asleep in my office." Cat said, rubbing the back of her hand, guilt pulling at her as she gave a sheepish smile. Vaughn only frowned while Rhys folded his arms over his chest and raised a brow, unimpressed.

"Again." Rhys said. Yes, she has fallen asleep multiple times in her office.

"Again." Cat stated.

"Well, at least you're here on time." Vaughn said, now smiling.

Cat smiled back as Rhys unfolded his arms, his glare turning into a happy grin. "So. You excited?" Cat asked.

"Heck yes, I'm excited!" Rhys basically yelled with joy as the three began to walk down the hall as a group.

"Yeah, he wouldn't stop jumping up and down last night. _And_ he decided to drink all the Mountain Dew in victory!" Vaughn accused, glaring at Rhys who was at his right, as Cat had Rhys to left, Rhys in the middle sort of leading them.

Rhys and Vaughn were the gamer types, usually drinking Mountain Dew and playing video games all night if they had no work. Even Cat would come over and play a game with them, and, of course, completely destroying them both. Even all their friends would come over and have a movie night about every week.

"You drank all the Mountain Dew? You guys have like, a _mountain_ of mountain dews." Cat commented, snickering at her own pun.

"Hey, I didn't drink all of it. Just… A lot of it." Rhys mumbled the last bit.

"Yeah, but with the new promotion you're getting you can pay for what you drank." Vaughn said. "Which reminds me. What's the first thing you're going to buy?" Vaughn suddenly said quickly, almost leaping in joy. "I know what Henderson's making. I do his payroll." With that comment, the thought of how much money Rhys is going to gain was going to change his life. No, all of their lives. For the better.

"If you're getting a fraction of what he earns, you'll be rolling in it. Being an exec in Hyperion comes with expectations." Vaughn said, looking up at Rhys for an answer.

"I figure I could get lunch. Seems like a good place to start." Rhys said, smiling at he looked at Vaughn as they rounded a corner.

"Well, then we're starting with 3 of whatever's most expensive." Vaughn said. Cat raised an eyebrow at that.

"Sure." Rhys smiled, looking ahead.

"And wine pairings."

"For lunch?" Cat asked, looking at Vaughn as if he were nuts. People on Helios did get drunk every now and then to celebrate something. That usually didn't end well, if the person didn't know what they were doing.

"We are going to get twisted, dude." Vaughn said to her. Vaughn called her dude, and called Rhys bro. It was the same thing, just that bro was more weird for a girl. They were thinking dudette, but that just didn't feel right. "If I'm not puking up five hundred dollars of food and alcohol this afternoon then we are doing it wrong."

Cat and Rhys only chuckled at that as they approached the massive metal door at the end of the hallway, with each side splitting off into different hallways. Big blocks of bushes were on each side of the door as a sort of decoration to try to make it interesting. Not really working.

"We're meeting Yvette afterwards to celebrate. She booked us a table." Vaughn said.

"Yup. Sounds good." Rhys said.

The three all stopped at the door, and soon faced each other in a triangle group. "Look, we had to do a lot of awful stuff to get you to this point. Do I regret some of it? Sure I do. Every night it haunts my dreams, but that doesn't matter now." Vaughn said. What great encouraging words. "Cause you made it. You deserve this, man." Vaughn smiled, as well as the other two. "And don't ever think you don't."

"Hey, we made it, okay? We're in this together. If I'm moving up, we're all moving up." Rhys smiled. Cats appreciated that. All his friends helped him get where he was today. Each having their own little job. It was nice to know that it was finally paying off, even if some of the things did haunt some of their dreams.

Rhys placed a hand on Vaughn's and Cat's shoulders, "You can be certain of that."

"I appreciate that, Rhys. You know, people around here have short memories when it comes to that stuff." Vaughn said.

"Yeah, thanks, Rhys. I appreciate it, too. There are too many pricks around here, it's hard to tell who are the good guys anymore." Cat said.

Rhys let go of their shoulders as he smiled. "You guys, me, Yvette, the others… we're gonna run this place." Rhys said, confidence in his voice.

"Yes we are." Vaughn said, looking at the two. That was their plan. To try to take over Hyperion. Even since Jack died, everything fell apart, and they planned to bring it back up. It'll take time, yes. But it'll be worth it.

Cat sniffled. Both Rhys and Vaughn looked at her with confused faces, as they noticed her eyes were tearing up. "So sweet…" Cat almost laughed, trying to make her eyes watery. Rhys and Vaughn both rolled their eyes as Cat rubbed her human eye. "So gay… I love it."

"Oh my lord." Vaughn said, irritated. Cat only laughed.

"That was so sweet guys, you're gonna make me cry." She joked.

"Dry it off, you big cry baby." Rhys chuckled.

Cat snickered, her eyes finally drying. She loved annoying them, it was fun. But now they had to be serious. Serious time.

"Alright, man. Let's get that Hyperion face on." Vaughn said.

Cat now stood next to Vaughn, as they looked at Rhys' face.

"Oh. Right, yeah." He said, kinda confused.

After a moment, Rhys had given them a fake smile. Turning his head slightly to the left, a sideways smile and his left eyebrow up higher than the other.

"Hm…" Cat said, folding her arms over her chest as a hand tapped at her chin, thinking as her brows furrowed.

"Hmm… No, we need some condescending, it's a little too friendly right now." Vaughn said.

"Here, tell you what. Tilt you head back, chin up high." Cat commented.

"Yeah, like uh, like if you asked me if there's anything up your nose." Vaughn added.

"How's that?" Rhys said, tilting his head back a little too far to what a normal person should not do if they wanted their neck broken. Yet, it did look like a Hyperion Jerkface. It'd work.

"There you go. You don't respect me at all. Perfect." Vaughn said. Cat snorted as she lowered her hand into her arms over her chest. Yep. Hyperion Jerkface. Rhys then looked down at them, keeping the face but giving a thumbs up with his metal arm.

Rhys took a step towards the door, as the metal doors slid open with a swoosh. He soon stepped inside the office, as he then looked back at his two friends, who only waved him luck. It was it. His life was going to be completely different. And soon enough, the doors slid close.

"Why are you telling this story? I already said all of this." Rhys complained, who was now leaning against the wall, still tied up in duct tape.

"Because earlier you were. _Embellishing_ , was it?" Cat said, glaring at him as she too leaned against a wall facing him, meanwhile Fiona was next to her. The two of them were fighting earlier, and kicking so they had to separated.

Rhys only glared at her. Cat smirked at that, till the Stranger above her glared down at her. Or so she thought, she couldn't tell what was under his mask. "Continue." He said.

"Right." Cat said.

Once the doors closed, Vaughn had instantly leaned his ear against the door. Which was useless, since it was thick metal.

"That's not gonna work, ya dope." Cat said, putting her hands on her waist.

Vaughn simply glared at her as he stepped away from the door, the hearing plan seeming to fail.

"Hope it goes well." Vaughn said, looking up at Cat. His expression had worry all over it.

"Hey. I'm sure it'd go fine." Cat said with a reassuring smile.

"I hope so."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"... I guess you do have a point." Vaughn said, seeming to perk up at that. "Hey. Can't you, like, see what Rhys is seeing?"

"What do you mean?" Cat asked, confused. She didn't have any super powers that allowed to see what other people see, or control them. That was just… crazy… Yeahhhhhhhh…

"I mean, your ECHOeye. Didn't you sync yours with Rhys'?" Vaughn asked, now seeing the brilliant brain behind his big head. Man, he was genius.

"Yes, yes, I remember. But I had shut it off, since one time I called him, and by accident I kinda caught him in the shower… So… Yeah…" Cat said, embarrassed. After that, she had to turn it off in case something like that happened again. She almost laughed when Rhys didn't talk to her for a week.

Cat at some point synced their robotic parts, to they could have better contact with each other. Maybe in case someone were to die, er something.

"Can't you turn it back on?" Vaughn asked.

"Let's see…" Cat said, as she lifted her arm up to display the hologram tablet once again, as her ECHOeye turned a bright glowing purple.

Cat could see the programming with Rhys' arm and ECHOeye, after moving some messed up files she'd have to clean up later. In the office, and now on compute. So. Much. Work! Cat groaned to herself, once she opened up the file, seeing it had a password to it.

"What? Something wrong?" Vaughn asked, waiting impatiently.

"I got good news and bad news. Which one you want?" Cat asked.

"Good news."

"I can turn on the link to see what's he's seeing."

"And… the bad news?"

"It has a password."

"Try 'Handsome Jack.'" Vaughn said simply.

Cat only looked at him, raising a brow, unimpressed. Vaughn noticed this, and quickly tried to explain. "Have you seen Rhys' room. It's, like filled with Jack posters and stuff." He had a point. And funny, as Rhys was obsessed and he wouldn't admit it. He didn't believe her when she told him that Cat talks to Handsome Jack about every day before he had passed.

"It's worth a shot." Cat muttered as she typed in 'Handsome Jack.' There was soon a click as it loaded.

"Did it work?" Vaughn asked, folding his arms as his expression looked up in hope.

Cat smiled. "Yep. Displaying now." She said, as the tablet displaying out of her hand became an angled view of Rhys vision, for both Vaughn and Cat to see. They both watched as they observed what was going on.

"-o where's Henderson?" Rhys asked. It was weird hearing his voice, but not hearing him. They only saw what he saw. And they saw someone who they shouldn't be seeing. Cat and Vaughn gasped in shock at who was sitting in the office chair.

"Assquez!" Vaughn yelled in shock as he watched with wide eyes.

Correctly, Hugo Vasquez. Rhys' nemesis in the company.

"That prick!" Cat muttered.

"He...uh. Stepped out." Vasquez said, not very sure of himself.

"Pfft." Cat said, not believing a word he said.

"You're going to be reporting to me now, Rhys." Vasquez said. "And I want you to know, the promotion you worked so hard to get, that's still coming to you." Vaughn seemed to have relieved, his shoulders slumping down as he sighed in relief as he watched the tablet. But Cat only glared at it, not trusting Vazquez one bit.

"Well that's a relief, cause I-" Rhys started as he sat down in a chair in front of the desk, with the computer Vasquez sat at. The screen was turned to Rhys, with a black car appearing on it. Probably Vasquez showing off something new he was buying. The was Vasquez. The prick everyone hated, but his ego hides that, thinking he's all great and everyone loves him. With the new position he has, Cat would have to work with him.

Vasquez was Rhys's nemesis. His rival. The two were always trying to compete to beat the other. Vasquez was a short man, with a big intimidating personality. He wasn't as tall as Rhys, but was taller than Cat. He usually wore a black outfit. It had white stripes on the sleeves of his black jacket, meanwhile his dress shoes were only black. He had a yellow tie, going under his jacket. He had a massive black beard and mustache, a goatee. His beard connected to his black hair, his bangs being whipped to his left side in a big ball. The man looked scary, as to how buff he looked. He could pack a punch. But his brown eyes were terrifying.

Cat hated him. She could feel the anger boiling in her, knowing that he was going to screw over Rhys, even when he put all his hard work into it. She wanted to just throw him out of an airlock!

"But this is about more than that, Rhys. It's about your future in this company." Vasquez said. Jeez, even his low voice is annoying. She just wanted to rip the voice box right out of him.

"Look...you wanna know the reason why I'm in that chair… and you're not?" Vasquez asked, as he moved from his chair and sat on his desk, getting closer to Rhys, while Rhys just leaned back and folded his arms over his chest. Even Vasquez's smile was annoying. How has nobody killed him yet? He has so many rivals, how has nobody come to terms on killing him?

"For the exact same reason why North is North, why the handsome guy always gets the girl, and why every spaceship in the universe is shaped like a cock." Vasquez said. _Heh. No. Have you seen Star Wars?_

"It's Destiny. Rhys… and men, real men, men like me… make their own."Vasquez said as he got up when Rhys looked down at the ground. Rhys soon looked up to see that Vasquez had walked to the window, the back wall being an entire window, showing Pandora down below. Vasquez folded his hands behind his back while he looked outside the window. "You can hold a grudge if you like, no harm no foul, your thoughts are your own…?" He turned to look at Rhys, his expression seeming angered. "But bad things happen when you swim against fate."

Rhys' eye direction changed from Vasquez's to the window, slowly noticing something floating slowly by. "Sometimes men find themselves standing in the way of other men's destiny…You don't want to be that man."

"Oh my God…" Vaughn muttered, disbelief and fear in his voice.

Mr. Henderson was floating by the window, his skin once pale now a tint of blue, as bits of ice covered his body from the freezing temperature in space. If you get launched out there, you're practically dead in the next couple of seconds.

The dead man floated in space, as Rhys stared in utter shock, as did Cat and Vaughn. Vasquez was a murderer. He must have killed him once he learned that Rhys was getting a promotion, and forcefully took Henderson's job. That sly little dick. He was going to pay.

"Wow… I could not have timed that better, that really helps dramatically make my point…" Vasquez said with a big smile, as he now noticed the Henderson's dead body was floating by the big window. Vasquez soon started taking steps towards Rhys, as Rhys leaned back into his chair. "Which is this. This promotion is gonna take you out of the way of other people's destiny, and put you on your own path…"

"What is he getting at here?" Cat muttered, more to herself, as Vaughn simply shrugged as he glared at the hologram display. They both hated Vasquez with a passion. Of all the ways Cat could imagine him dying, it was giving her a headache.

Vasquez leaned over his desk, placing his hands on it with a big smile. "And that, my friend, is why I am promotion you to-" He seemed to think for a second of what he was going to say, till the speaker on his desk had buzzed. He seriously forgot to turn off the radio in his office? Seriously? Wow. Terrible work. Just...embarassing.

"Jerry, why isn't my new car digi-structing in my office yet?" Vasquez said with an angry tone as he practically yelled at the speaker. Guess that explains the car on his screen.

"Vasquez. It's August." The man on the other side of the phone said. Sounding intimidating. And who's August?

"Oh, August. Uh… Cool. Listen, I actually have somebody here with me so-" Vasquez started, but August just interrupted him. Cat would have smile, if it wasn't for what August had to say next.

"Are you buyin' this Vault Key or what, cause I-" August began, before Vasquez quickly turned off the speaker, so August would be talking on the earpiece Vasquez has on his right ear.

A Vault Key…? A friggin, Vault Key! You can use the Vault Key to actually open a Vault. Those things cost millions! No. More. Is that why Vasquez is buying a Vault Key?

The Vault is believed to be a cache of alien technology hidden on the planet of Pandora. Once rumours of its existence began, it spreaded all over, gaining interest in its contents. It drew many, from small groups and individual prospectors to large scale weapons manufacturers. Such as Handsome Jack. There are several Vaults across the galaxy, and Cat thought to many. People go crazy for Vaults. Psychos, for example.

The Vault is an enigmatic place that is myth and folklore, a child's tale. Or, at least people thought. After the Atlas corporation found a cache of alien weaponry on Promethea, stories began to emerge from the vaults on other worlds. Legends. And these legends held that the Vault must contain something amazing. After the found on Pandora by Atlas, it led to the "Gold Rush" of people heading to Pandora in search for a Vault. But, as summer came around for the planet, so did dangers that were ready to eat. Many people decided to leave, but the ones who couldn't afford it had to stay behind. It is truly sad for them, but that's Pandora for you.

A Vault Key was the only way to open a Vault. Which is not with the Vault if you find one. As well as the key has to match the one your opening. Vault keys are rare enough that there's probably 1 to 5 on the planet. And hidden very well. But it also has to charged, blah blah blah.

But why does Vasquez want a Vault Key? That'll cause a massive drop in money supply if he was buying a Vault Key. And if he wanted a key, did he know where the Vault itself was?

"How did this happen so quick? I thought I'd have more time." Vasquez started as he leaned off the desk, pressing the earpiece he had. He held an index finger up to Rhys, telling him to wait. Wow. Professional. Guess Cat had some material to make fun of him now. "Of course I'm still interested, I- Yes, I'm near a computer." Vasquez was whispering, but could still be heard. He leaned over his desk as he pushed the computer back his way, showing the holographic field on the back of it. Now Cat and Vaughn had a view of Vasquez's name on his desk. 'Hugo Vasquez.' Biggest dick in all time should be his motto. Fits him perfectly.

"Ten million. Yeah. It's just… that's a lot of money to get together on short notice." Well, not for Hyperion. He must be using the company's money to fund this little exchange. And ten million? Whoever had that Vault Key was getting ripped off, high.

"A Vault Key…" Vaughn muttered, his eyes wide. "He's buying… A freakin' Vault Key!" He said, shock in his voice.

"Unless he has a Vault to open up, then it's basically useless. Whatever he has planned, it's not good." Cat said, glaring at the tablet.

"I mean, I'm not trying to be obstinate, but I need time." Vasquez said, as he walked away from the computer, and began to pace back and forth from the window as he talked to his _client_.

Rhys was looking around the room as Vasquez whispered to August while he paced, seeming to mutter to himself as he made comments of what he was looking at.

"What's he doing…?" Cat said, curious to what he was planning. If it was something to mess up Vasquez's deal, she was in.

All the sudden, Rhys had began to reach for Vasquez's computer. Probably trying to see what was on it. But, Vasquez turned to see him. He glared, expecting an explanation, but Rhys only put the same hand through his hair, trying to play it off with an awkward smile. Vasquez only folded his arms and glared, till he continued to his pacing.

Rhys smirked, raising his left brow. But, then all the sudden everything blue, with object glowing yellow from Rhys' view.

"He's using his ECHOeye." Cat said.

Rhys was scanning all the things in the room. Even Pandora. But nothing was useful. Although, knowing Vasquez's blood pressure to be 140/90 was kinda funny. Maybe he'll get a heart attack or something at some point. But then Rhys was scanning the computer.

Analysis Complete

Holographic computer monitor

Cost: Expensive

Class: High

User ID: Hugo Vasquez

Currently viewing one (1) encrypted file.

"There you go, Rhys." Cat said, sort of cheering him on. Even though he didn't even know they could see what he saw.

Soon Rhys had his arm up, a hologram tablet appearing, so he hid it under the table, not to be seen. The words Download and Decrypt appeared on his Tablet, and he clicked it. All the sudden, a bunch of files and pictures showed up, and Vault key, schedule, something saying 'WORLD OF CURIOSITIES,' and so on, till and small tablet appeared on the screen, saying 'DECODING…' The files were all glitching out and bugged, but the decoding soon stopped, and what appeared was in fact, a Vault Key.

Rhys got right of his hologram as he placed his arm down, his view now normal colors. He got what he needed. Good. That was a step… Into something, what exactly were they going to do with that information. Rhys had his HUD up on his eye, as he glanced through the messages he sent from Cat.

"This is no time to text, Rhys." Vaughn said, but Rhys couldn't hear him. Rhys had send a file to her, as she heard the familiar _bing_ once again. She needed to change that ring. It was terrible.

"Wait, wait. He sent me the files he got off of Vasquez's computer." Cat said, glancing through it on her ECHOeye.

"Why are you trying to screw me on this?" Vasquez said, pulling Cat off of the files and watching back to the screen. "Oh, fine. Just wait there, okay? I can only be down… If it's gonna be ten million dollars I'm gonna need another hour or two. Okay. Yeah, I'll be be there in a bit. Well then just stay there. It's a tourist shop, right? Buy a mug or something. Sure, sure, sure. Okay. Say hi to your mom." Vasquez hung up, his back to Rhys with his fist were on his haist, him thinking. "Damnit."

There was a moment of silence, till he turned back to Rhys and walked over to him. "Oh… Right." Vasquez kinda got too close for comfort, hovering over Rhys in a dominant and intimidating way. Rhys only leaned back. "Ah… What were we talking about?"

"We were talking… We were talking about my promotion." Rhys cleared his throat, since it started with a voice crack, he had to restart his sentence with a more firm voice.

Vasquez only glared at Rhys. "Oh...right. Your, uh, promotion." Vasquez said with a smile, only clearly showing he was up to something. Well, now the gang of friends that all hated him also had something planned. Or, almost planned. They had an idea, there.

Vasquez jumped, now sitting on the desk, facing Rhys. "Henderson was a fool." He said.

"Speak for yourself." Cat mumbled, and was received by a chuckle from Vaughn.

"He didn't know his place. He needed lesson number 1...humility." Vasquez said with a smirk. "But you. I respect you, Rhys. That's why I'm going to make you Assistant… Vice…"

Cat and Vaughn stared wide eyes, watching intently, waiting for the answer. This is what they were waiting for, unless Vasquez decided to do something else.

"Janitor." Vasquez finished. Cat growled in anger, as Vaughn left the screen, pacing a circle while he paced.

"You have got to be kidding me!" He yelled, before he came back to the screen to see what happened next.

Cat knew something was wrong. Of course he would demote Rhys, mainly because Rhys was better at his job by a long shot compared to Vasquez. And now he wanted to 'put Rhys in place,' and teach him 'humility.' Pfft. Vasquez wasn't going to get away with this.

"What? N-no. No, y-y-you can't." Rhys started, panic in his voice.

"I'm the boss now, Rhys. I do whatever I want." Vasquez said, standing from his desk. "Report to sewage scow twenty-three, effective immediately." Vasquez smirked an evil smirk. He was so going to lose his face one day.

Rhys sat up, glaring at Vasquez. "You're going to pay for this-Opf!" Rhys said, as he was met with a fist to the nose.

"Whow, whow, whow. Wait wait." Vaughn said, panicking.

"That prick!" Cat yelled.

The only thing they saw was the ceiling, as Rhys now laid on the ground with a loud thud. There was a loud crash, as he hit the side of the chair when it fell to the ground.

"I'm your boss, Rhys. Get used to that." Vasquez said. "This is what I'm talking about when I say humility." He said, as Rhys lifted his head lightly, using his elbow to shift him up a bit. He was using his human hand to touch his nose, only to retract to see blood on his index.

"Vasquez is a dead man." Cat snarled.

"Is his nose broken?" Vaughn asked, panic. From what it looked like, he got punched really hard in the face. And getting a bloody nose is bad.

"That was lesson number 2. Don't make lesson number 3 about a number 2." Vasquez said.

"What?" Rhys asked confused, as he looked up at Vasquez.

"Don't make me crap on the floor and make you clean it up!" Vasquez almost yelled in anger. Rhys had struggled to get up, but once he did, he glared at Vasquez. "You're dismissed, Rhys."

Rhys made his way to the door. He was leaving, yay. Hopefully he was okay. "I'll let you know when I need my trash can emptied."

The doors slid open, making Cat and Vaughn look up at Rhys. Ohhhhhhh, he looked mad. Like, murderous mad. The doors behind him closed, as he looked at the two of them. The blood was still dripping from his nose, now making it's way onto the expensive metal floor.

"Here." Cat said, turning off the hologram display as she looked into her bag, messing around with the clutter. Once she grabbed the small pack of tissues, she handed it to Rhys, who simply gave a weak smile and took the small pack of tissues. He then ripped it open, and held a tissue to his nose, cleaning himself up.

"What the hell was that? He can't do this to us!" Vaughn started, anger flying out of him.

Rhys stopped patting his nose, it all clean up as he held the bloody tissue in his hand. He handed Cat the small pack as he held onto the bloody tissue to throwing it away later.

"He just did." Rhys said.

"No… No, no, this can't be happening." Vaughn said, now following Rhys as he began to walk down the left hall, with Cat following next to him.

"I'm finished, Vaughn. I'm finished. You know how this place is. There's blood in the water, and everyone can smell it!" Rhys basically shouted, mainly to someone who walked by, as he raised his arms out to emphasise what he was saying. The person simply walked by, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"No. No. No they can't. Not yet. Unless you don't quiet down. We just gotta keep it on the down low until we figure something out. It's not that bad yet-" Vaughn said as they continued to walk down the hall. Till another hallway intersected it, with a trash can at the end. Rhys, out of anger, kicked the trash can with all the force he held. The silver trash can fell over, all it's disgusting treasures spilling onto the floor.

Cat and Vaughn stared at Rhys as he looked like a wild animal.

Suddenly, alarm bells began to ring in the halls.

"Senior Vice Janitor Rhys to sector D451 for trash cleanup because that is your job now, to clean up trash with your bare hands." The AI said over the speakers. Great, it was programmed to make fun of him now.

"Sorry, you were saying something. I interrupted you." Rhys said calmly, looking at Vaughn like nothing happened.

"Rhys...why are you cleaning up trash?" A woman said, walking up to them with her arms folded. "I thought you were getting a promotion…"

Yvette. Another friend. A tall black woman, with crazy brown hair. Most of the bangs and side were parted to her right side of her face, but then the other side was shaved off in lines, in a crazy pattern. She wore an orange dress shirt, with a black pencil skirt around her, from her stomach to her knees. Then it was comforted with black heels. Her brown piercing eyes and her smirking mouth just showed that she found the situation amusing.

"Heh. Vasquez screwed me out of the promotion." Rhys sort of growled the last bit, pointing to himself with his thumb to emphasise.

Yvette's expression changed from a smirk to a frown.

"Henderson's dead." Cat added, her voice giving a fake happy voice with a fake happy smile as she threw her Siren hand out. Nothing was good about this.

"What? Are you sure?" Yvette asked, raising a brow.

"Yeah. I mean, you can ask him yourself, he's floating outside in space." Rhys growled, throwing his arms hand in anger. He wasn't mad at her, but Vasquez. But an angry Rhys was kinda funny and cute. Cat was amused.

"It's that prick, Vasquez." Vaughn said, frowning. "He threw Henderson out of an airlock and demoted Rhys to trashman." He whispered as he glanced back down the hallway they came from, in case Vasquez might have heard them somehow.

"Holy crap." Yvette said, un folding her arms. Till she folded them against across her chest. "So does that mean you're not buying?" The said Yvette with a smirk. The lunch leech. Also requisitions.

Rhys only walked past her, walking down the hallway where she came from. The three quickly followed behind. "Well, just...trying to lighten the mood...and I didn't bring my wallet, so if someone pays for me-"

"I'll tell you who's gonna pay. Vasquez." Vaughn said.

"I don't know if he's the type-" Yvette started, till Vaughn cut her off.

"We can let that prick get away with this. We need to do something." Vaughn said. Cat almost snorted when Yvette didn't understand the first time.

"He just killed a guy. Maybe it's better we lay low for a bit."

"What? No, we hit back!"

"What about the Vault Key?" Cat asked.

"How is that going to help?" Vaughn asked, raising a brow at her, unimpressed.

"A Vault Key?" Yvette asked, bewildered.

"Wait, wait. I think Cat's onto something… We steal his deal." Rhys said, smiling at them. Cat smirked at that.

"Yes we are. That's what I'm talking about." Vaughn said, smiling evilly.

"What are you talking about?" Yvette asked.

"Vasquez set up a deal on Pandora for a Vault Key." Cat said, lifted her arm up to show an imagine of the Vault Key in the file Rhys sent her. Yvette looked at it, certainly impressed.

"Woah." Yvette said, as Cat put away the imagine and rested her arm to her side.

"That must be why he got the promotion. The only thing Hyperion cares more about than money is Vault Keys." Vaughn said. "It's perfect! I mean, not only do we screw over Assquez, we have a frickin' Vault Key. What're they worth? Like a billion dollars?"

"More." Yvette said with awe.

"Yeah, but we need ten million right now to make the deal." Rhys said.

"Hold please…" Vaughn said, stopping in his tracks. Everyone stopped abruptly, and looked at him. Vaughn had looked away slightly, as he placed a hand on his glasses. Soon, numbers of green appeared on his glasses in mirror to them, it reading $10,000,000. "Done." He looked back up at them once it disappeared.

The three of them looked impressed and astonish at that.

"I'm not gonna lie... _that_ was impressive." Rhys said with a smile.

"I'm in accounting. It's what I do. Ten million bucks is chump change around here. By the time anyone notices we'll have a Vault Key." Vaughn said with a smile.

Cat, Vaughn and Rhys began to walk, but Yvette began to walk the other way. "Cool. Well, it looks like you boys got it all figured out. I'm gonna go eat...alone. Call me if you don't get killed alright?" Yvette said.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Hey! We need your help. We need clearance, transportation. You're the requisitions master. We need that stuff." Vaughn said, running up to her as she turned back to them.

"Yeah, maybe a Loader Bot or Two, you know, it things get dicey." Rhys added.

"Look...it's one thing stealing from a bunch of poor suckersn on Pandora...you're talking about stealing from Hyperion." Yvette said.

"But we're friends! Friends help each other steal stuff. I mean, that's how it works." Vaughn said as Cat and Rhys walked up to them.

"Plus we aren't really stealing. Just...borrowing." Cat said, choosing her words wisely.

"Richter used to steal candy bars. His family still doesn't know where the body is." Yvette said, giving an example.

"Richter was an asshole and his family are assholes." Vaughn protested, trying to give another possible reason for his death.

"Come on. I'll buy you the lunch I owe you when we get back." Rhys said with a smile.

"Fine." Yvette frowned. But then she smiled, having an idea. "But you're buying me lunch now, and when you get back."

Rhy chuckled. "Done."

"You better add a coffee to that list too, bucko." Cat looked at Rhys.

"Oh...Right." He said.

The group soon began to walk again together. "Alright, we only got a couple hours." Rhys said.

"Go withdraw the cash, I'll get you guys clearance to Pandora, get you geared up and issue you a standard Hyperion town car." Yvette said.

"What? Standard? Really? You can't spring for premium? Seat warmers, maybe a convertible or something-" Vaughn started.

"Sure, yeah, a convertible. So, just so I got this straight, you want me to get you a car to drive around Pandora that leaves you less protected, right?" Yvette asked with a sarcastic tone.

"Look, it's just, if you're gonna steal something. I figure-" Vaughn said.

"No...No, don't worry...I've got a car in mind." Rhys said.

Hub of Heroism. A place with many wonders. The veins of Helios. It was a place for research and development, meetings, and lunch breaks. Basically a strip mall. It was massive, looking like a city inside. There were walls with shops, the walls being black metal with yellow strips, the Hyperion color. There was a bridge in the distance, meeting together from two walls, being horizontal. There was a column in the middle, going heights above. It had lights on it, it had the Hyperion logo, it had hologram signs in the color of blue showing man in a suit. The CEO of the place.  
The room was miles long, strangely enough. It was a place for workers to get off of work, and shop. Even though there are other places on Helios, that area was the biggest.  
The sides had shops, the left having a Black Market as the first. The right had the Hall of Helios. The column ahead was the elevator that lead to Jack's office. It was now a tour, for tourist with the high enough money to go to. Mainly for the mega mega fans. Even Rhys wasn't that mega.  
Cat hated the fact that the office was now a sort of museum. Sure, it did have fans come and see, but Jack isn't some medal someone should gloat. He was a human being, and his belongings should be respected. Not for show and tell.  
There were wires stretch across the air in the sky, connecting to speakers and satellites. A sort of power source. Since the place was massive, it required lots of power.  
At the front that you walk in from, it had a hologram display, one that Cat was standing in front of. It had the hologram display a Helios image, showing off the satellite. Next to it had short stairs leading to a bunch of seats, having more stairs, leading to a bunch of seats. It was a sort of dorm, with green bushes around it as decor. Meanwhile what the walls looking like city buildings, it displayed hologram advertising products and such, like guns or food.  
The area was brightly lit, with a yellow tint. It looked like it was a morning sunrise. And it was peaceful.  
Well, it would be peaceful if people weren't flooding the place. There were massive groups of people, to where some could bump into each other. Although Cat liked people, she didn't like being close to them.  
The Hub of Heroism had many points of interest. Helios Immigration Station, Central Terminal, Harrn Lockup, World of Shopping, Gun Shop, Hyperion Hall of Wonders, so on. It was filled with things to do, it could be considered a theme park for Hyperion.  
Cat enjoyed the Hub of Heroism. It was nice. You could buy whatever you want, talk to people, they have wonder food. It was so hard to pick sometimes, since there was so many options. And there was so much to love about it. The stores were endless. Anyone would love it.  
Two things she didn't like though, was that every time she went. Every time she saw it, it was a constant reminder about Jack. His office was right there, the elevator to it was right there. It was a burden she had to carry. She'd have to brush it off every time she went, trying to ignore it. But it sure as hell made it a lot harder to move on.  
The second thing she hated was the damn-  
Ring  
Ring  
Ring  
The vibrating feeling in her ear was advocating, as her ear piece rung in her ear. Cat rose a finger up to the device in her left ear. She was receiving a phone call.  
"Hello." She said with a perky tone, as she leaned against a railing on the top of the stairs, behind her being a plant. She watched as people walked by, chatting the day away.  
"Aww, you sound so happy to talk to me." Rhys with with glee on the other side of the call. Cat smirked.  
"Yeah, because I know you're buying me lunch." Cat grinned.  
"Ha ha, very funny." Rhys deadpanned, but behind had a light hearted tone.  
"I'm a funny person." Cat said. "Have you and Vaughn picked up lunch yet, or are you still in line?"  
"We're in line. Some guy at the front is taking forever…" Rhys' words trailed off, as if he was thinking. Then he started laughing quietly, as if he was trying not to. "Dude, this guy is yelling at the worker. I don't know why, but the guy looks like he's about to murder someone."  
"I can tell." Cat said, glancing over in the distance, not being able to see but hear a loud roaring voice. "I can hear him from the front. Why is he mad?"  
"He got all anger cause the worker was sassing him." Rhys laughed. Cat simply grinned and rolled her eyes.  
"Well that sounds like fun." Cat said, shaking her head with a grin.  
"Whatcha wanna to get? Vaughn and I already know what weren't getting." Rhys said.  
"Okay, um. I don't know, whatever you're getting." Cat said. "Wait, no, your taste is terrible. I trust Vaughn's delicacy taste more than yours."  
"Wait, what? No it's not. I have great taste!" Rhys complained. Cat only laughed, glancing around.  
"Bull crap! Last time you bought me food, it tasted just as bad as your cooking." Cat said with an amusing derogatory tone.  
Rhys made an odd noise of repulsiveness. As if he snorted. "Please, I make the best meals. Ask Vaughn." Rhys said. Cat waited for a moment, trying to listen in on what was happening.  
"Take the earpiece." She could hear Rhys ordering someone.  
"What, why?" A voice said, Cat assuming it was Vaughn's voice.  
"Because I said so."  
"What, no."  
"Put it on."  
"Get that thing away from my ear!"  
Cat heard the two bickering at each other, Vaughn refusing the ear piece, which caused Cat to giggle to herself. Which was received with stares by people walking by.  
Smack  
"Ow!" Vaughn whined. He sounded much from clear. He was most likely wearing the earpiece. He probably obligated from the smack Rhys gave him.  
"Hello." He said with an inscrutable voice.  
"Sup." Cat asked.  
"I'm getting abused by a jerk." Vaughn said with indignation.  
Cat cackled.  
"Rhys wanted you to say he was a good cook." Cat said.  
Vaughn laughed. So hard. Cat could have sworn her speaker on her earpiece was going to break. Her eyes widen and she grinned at the sudden outburst, as she waited for the laughing to stop.  
"You're funny, really. I just… I can't." He laughed through sharp breathes.  
"I know." Cat said, not being able to hide the snarky smile crossing her lips.  
Vaughn sighed, recovering from his sudden outburst of joy. "That made my day, really." He said. "Certainly and good thing after Rhys got demoted to janitor-Ow!" Vaughn hissed. Cat assumed he got smacked again.  
It was quiet for a bit, Cat only being able to understand shiffles and words being spoken. Till a suddenly a voice came on.  
"You're both assholes." Rhys said, not happy.  
"Truth hurts, buddy. It's a cruel world." Cat said.  
Rhys simply scoffed.  
Cat only snorted, rolling her eyes. The comical humor from her friends was the only reason why she was on Helios. Even though there were many things to hate about Helios. The people, the killing, the corporate ladder, what it's done to Pandora, so on. Wait, wasn't she listing things she hated about Hub of Heroism. What was it…?  
Oh! Right, the second thing she hated was the-  
"Hello there, human!"  
Cat jumped, moving from the faze of looking at the hologram of Helios, to turn her body towards the voice that scared her.  
God damn it-  
"Sorry if I scared you there! I just been a long time since we've last seen each other!" ClapTrap said, with a happy voice.  
"Something wrong?" Rhys said, startling Cat from the sudden vibration in her ear. She was too shocked to move, as she stared at the machine in front of her.  
CL4P-TP General Purpose Robots, more commonly known as ClapTraps. They were Hyperion manufactured work robots.  
One of Cat's worst creations, if you ask her.  
"Well, ClapTrap, that's because-" Cat said, trying to sound friendly, definitely not straining her voice as her jaw clenched, as she slowly took a step back.  
However, the yellow box with the stripe stripe only moved forwards. He had little claps on the top of his head, falling to the sides. He had a blue eye, with black around it, as it was able to move the eye around. He had a wheel to move around, which he used to move a step forwards. He had his long thin arms out, with the robot metal, as his hands were just two metal clips.  
"Ages, really! At some point I felt like you were just ignoring me! But I know you wouldn't do that!" ClapTrap said.  
"Wait, wait wait. You're stuck with ClapTrap?" Rhys asked, bemused. Cat could just see him sinister smile creeping up to each of his ears.  
"Shut up, and help me." Cat whispered through quick words.  
"What was that?" ClapTrap asked.  
"What! Nothing!" Cat said, frightful.  
Bad thing was, she was trying to avoid him. After weeks of it working, has now fallen. Gosh darn.  
The CL4P-TPs serves as the stewards of Pandora, and are found in populated areas and guarding access points between different maps. Cat met someone Pandora when she was down there, and she ended up hating every one of them.  
Lawrence De Quidt founded Hyperion's artificial intelligence branch, prototyping the CL4P-TP robots. In his later years, he dedicated his life to correcting personality flaws in the early prototypes. He had assigned Cat as his personal assistant. However, he passed away before making his dream a reality, and Cat barely made progress on fixing it.  
CL4P-TP units were all programmed with smart-aleck and overtly eccentric personalities. Clearly a mistake now. Although each CL4P-TP was slightly different, they almost universally exhibited eccentric behaviour and annoying tendencies and habits, such as regularly shirking responsibilities. Because of this, and their relative uselessness when it came to even the most menial jobs, when Hyperion took control of Pandora, Handsome Jack attempted to have them all destroyed. He obtained the H-source and the codes within, which he used to destroy nearly every CL4P-TP in existence. However, the original ClapTrap survived, as he is wondering Pandora. But after Jack's death, they were being made again. Because the board thought it'd be a good idea to make more.  
Cat took another step back raising both her hands, them limp. She was unsure of what to do. She could book it. Maybe. She was suppose to meet Rhys, Vaughn, and Yvette, as she had to an errand. They would understand. They understand the pain of a ClapTrap.  
"It's been such a long time! I thought we were never going to see each other again! People were saying that you were avoiding me, but that can't be true!"  
"What? Pfft. I would never do that to you, buddy." Cat shrugged, grinning as she looked away, not wanting to stare eye to eye with the thing. Inside she was screaming, wanting to leave. And also shoot someone, as rumors go around all the time. How did someone find out that she was trying to avoid him? Stupid people.  
"That's a relief! I was having doubt! But then again, nobody can resist the best robot in the world!" ClapTrap hopped, as he flexed his arms. They were literally just noodle like metal poles, with two joints.  
"Heheh, you're right, ClapTrap. Anybody- Ah, I mean nobody can resist." Cat laughed nervously. She had to get out of there. "Rhys, I swear save me right now." She whispered, furrowing her brows as she glanced at the ground.  
Rhys laughed, a little too loud. "After you insult my cooking. Nah." He said.  
"Why you little-" Cat began.  
"Vaughn, guess what. Cat's stuck with a ClapTrap." Rhys snickered, and Cat could hear laughing. She frowned.  
The only reason why that ClapTrap in particular followed her was because Cat saved it once. Some Hyperion worker got frustrated at the thing, and was about to airlock it. Till Cat came in and saved the day. The ClapTrap has been trying to repay her ever since.  
And to be honest, she wished the Hyperion worker got away with it.  
"I know! But so many people run away from me! I could have sworn you were one of them… If I sound pleased about this, it's only because my programmers made this my default tone of voice! I'm actually quite depressed!" ClapTrap said with joy.  
Cat couldn't help but feel sad for the poor thing. "Why, you know who I am. Always busy! Busy, busy me…" Cat said nervously. "Yeah I'm actually busy right now, so I could maybe go…" Her voice trailed off as she took slow steps backwards, till she swung a foot around so her back faced the ClapTrap.  
Till the ClapTrap just rode around right in front of her. And the thing was small, going to her waist. But it was still scary, nonetheless.  
"Oh, if you're busy maybe I can help! I am still in debt after all!" He said. Cat wished she had her gun with her.  
"Oh, well the thing that I need to do is kinda private." Cat said, taking a step back, feeling awkward having the ClapTrap right in front of her. "So I gotta go-"  
"Nonsense! I can keep a secret just like how I did when I accidentally killed my girlfriend! Don't tell anyone though, it's a secret." ClapTrap hushed.  
"Rhys, help me." Cat ordered with hushed words. She was going to punch him.  
"Fine." He groaned through a laughing fit. "I'm on my way." With that, the call ended. Cat was now left alone with the ClapTrap.  
Cat wasn't sure how to feel about that. Now knowing the ClapTrap killed another ClapTrap was terrifying, since it was an accident. But also relieving, since there's less of those dickheads.  
"That's nice ClapTrap, but it's private, and you can't hear it. And I have to be there right now, so ciao…" Cat's words faded as she tried a step to the right, having one foot on the staircase of a few steps, till the robot moved closer, pointing a hand at her.  
"No, sir e. I made a promise to repay you, and this is how I'm doing it! I can be of use! What is this meeting about?" ClapTrap said, stopping cat from walking further away.  
She was stuck. She couldn't get away. The robot had her pinned, and she couldn't simply run away without hurting it's feelings. Is this how it'll all end? She'll be stuck forever with the ClapTrap, forever haunting her. She could just kick him down the stairs, but that would just be rude. Although people are rude to them all the time, it would be no difference.  
Now to think about it, it'd be kinda funny. The ClapTrap would probably be tipped over, and couldn't get up. Stairs seem to be a weakness for the ClapTrap units, since they have a wheel for legs. It could be her only chance of getting out of that mess.  
"You don't have to repay me. It's fine." Cat smiled nervously. She could feel sweat begin to prick at her skin on her face, as she was unsure of what to do.  
"I must!" The ClapTrap said. "Why do I feel like this meeting isn't a normal meeting?"  
Crap. It was onto her.  
"Oh, well uh. It is, it is." Cat said, more like trying to reassure herself. "It's just, very private business, and all. Since I work with the robotics team and all, we're working on a new line of machinery, and we're trying to discuss about it, and well yeah…" Cat grinned awkwardly, rubbing the back of her neck.  
"Pfft. Please, I'm great with machinery, since I am after all am one! Not that I wanted to though, I would kill myself in a second if I got a chance from this cruel world! Humans suck! But it's against my programming!" The ClapTrap said a little to happily. "To be honest, I really wish you didn't save me! This is all your fault that I'm here!"  
Well, no going back now. You're alive, and suck here with me, sadly, Cat thought.  
"Yeah, well, that sucks. Really, it does. Anyway, I gotta go, so…" Cat said, staring awkwardly at the ClapTrap. It looked so dead inside it's eyes. Scary, really.  
"Nope! You are hiding something from me!" The ClapTrap accused.  
"What!" Cat asked, placing a hand on her chest, as if she was hurt. "Never!"  
"Yes, you are! And you are going to tell me, missy!" The robot said with a mothering tone, as it placed it's hands on it waist… or… sides, whatever it would be called.  
"Pfft. Nah." Cat laughed awkwardly. Rhys needed to hurry up.  
"You are lying to me." ClapTrap said. "And lying is bad!"  
"I don't lie" Cat said.  
"Everybody lies!"  
"I'm not like everybody."  
"You're human! Human beings lie!"  
"You're a robot! Robots lie!"  
"I would never!"  
Cat was getting annoyed. She could feel her brain cells dying every time the robot spoke. She sighed loudly, her shoulders slumped as she looked at the ceiling, that was floors high. She then turned her eyes towards the ClapTrap, still keeping her chin up high.  
She sighed again as she straightened her body, rubbing her temple with her index and thumb, tapping her foot. "Okay, okay, okay. ClapTrap, buddy. Listen closely." She said, now kneeling down to his height. "I have to go. And you can't come with. Capise?"  
"Liar!" ClapTrap pointed at her, causing her to shoot back up to her normal height. "You are hiding something, and I will find out!" Come on Rhys, hurry up.  
"Sorry, ClapTrap, but she isn't hiding anything. We do have a serious meeting that only us two and a few others need to talk about." A familiar said, as she came out from behind and wrapped an arm around Cat's shoulders.  
She jumped at the sudden noise, looking up to see it her friend, Rhys. Thank god.  
"So we're just going to be off now…" His words fading as he walked down the steps, gently forcing Cat to come with.  
A wave of relief filled her, now happy that she was out of that situation.  
"Wait, you're a janitor!" ClapTrap said behind them, staying on top of the stairs. "You're not suppose to be in those fancy meetings!"  
Rhys growled under his breath as he loomed over Cat, not wanting to talk to the ClapTrap. She snickered to herself at his annoyance. "Just keep on walking." Rhys muttered.  
Cat glanced behind her, now seeing the ClapTrap leaving the Hub of Heroism. Finally, some peace. She abruptly came to a stop, as Rhys did the same as he lifted his arm from Cat's shoulders, taking a step away to provide some space.  
They were now in the middle of an ocean of people, them walking by as they chatted to one another. Some laughing, some complaining, the usually Hyperion workers.  
Cat looked up at Rhys, grinning. "My savior." She exaggerated, placing a hand on her chest.  
Rhys simply laughed. "That ClapTrap is still after you?" He asked.  
"Yes, it's a nightmare. He keeps on finding me, saying he needs to repay me. One day he's going to go through a vent or something in my office!" Cat complained, rubbing her index and thumb on her temple. Just thinking about the robot gave her a headache.  
"Why don't you just say that a way to repay you is to leave you alone?" Rhys asked, tilting his head just barely.  
"Because I'm not an asshole." Cat said, and Rhys simply raised a brow, clearly not agreeing with her as he placed his robotic hand on his hip. "Shut up." Cat pointed an index at him, glaring.  
Rhys simply chuckled, shaking his head.  
"Where's Vaughn?" Cat said, glancing around, not seeing the slouching man anywhere.  
"When I came to be your savior, he waited in line to get the food." Rhys said, glancing behind him, trying find the short man.  
In such a crowd, finding the little in the sea of people would be impossible. Till in the fate distance, there was a holler of both their names. Cat and Rhys both looked over, looking at the seats settled close to the front of elevator leading to Handsome Jack's office. There was a line next to it, having groups of people waiting in line for the 'oh so grand tour' of Handsome Jack's office.  
The holloring was soon found by the source of Vaughn's throat, him on the seat, one knee on it to push himself to be taller. His hand was in the air, waving for them to come over. Rhys waved back, seeming to hush the small man from his screaming.  
Both Cat and Rhys made their way to him, being wary if they bumped into people or ClapTraps. Vaughn sat down normally, as he scooted over, having Rhys sit next to him as Cat sat across from them. They were in a small booth, able to sit four people. The seats were a blue leather, the back and the part where the rear goes. The rest of the booth was a white metal, so clean it was shining. The table itself was also the same, as it stood on one leg.  
On the one legged table, there were was one tray, it containing two plates. One, with some sort of sushi roll. It looked like poison, with it's pink tinted flesh, with heated steams on it. It had some other sides, that looked awful. Cat could feel her stomach turning inside, as she was beginning to lose her appetite.  
Then the other plate had Spaghetti, with the reddest sauce of beauty. There was meatballs perfectly placed on it, with little bits of parmesan cheese. There was little bits of green lettuce sprinkled on it. It looked so hot, there was still steam coming off of it. Sadly, Cat didn't like the Spaghetti they made.  
There were other things on the tray, such as napkins and silverware. All looking fancy with the white cleanness.  
Hyperion was very expensive, as a cup of coffee could cost 10 to 15 dollars. These meals must cost a lot. A tinge of guilt flew over Cat, as Rhys had to pay for her. And he was a Janitor. He couldn't possibly make enough money to buy two meals a day.  
"Dinner, is served." Vaughn said, adding some flair for a more dramatic moment as he slid Rhys' plate towards him.  
Cat raised a brow, pondering where her meal was. "We didn't know what to get you, since we know you don't like the Spaghetti they have. So we just got you some coffee." Vaughn said, grabbing the white coffee cup that was also on the tray. He reached over the table for Cat to grab, as she took from him with a gentle hand.  
"Thanks." She said,grabbing the brown cardboard cup sleeve, saving her hand from the hot object. Cat lifted the black lid, taking a peek inside the cup, seeing the Cappuccino type Coffee. The white lines inside of the light brown, moving around slowly and gentle in off patterns. It looked like a little heart inside.  
She loved coffee. It was one of her only sources of staying up all night to work inside her office, working on projects.  
She was lost in thought, as she glanced over to see the empty seat beside her. She looked up at Rhys and Vaughn, both who were stuffing their faces with food.  
"No Yvette?" Cat asked. "I thought she was mooching you off for food this time."  
"I have no idea." Rhys said, after he chewed the food that was in his mouth. He rubbed the back of his head, Cat seeing his earpiece. The only reason why he had the thing was so that he could have private calls, because a holographic display from a robot arm was exactly subtle.  
"She might be mooching off some other guy, since you're a janitor and all." Vaughn said with a chuckle.  
"I thought you would think more of me, Vaughn." A familiar voice said.  
"Speak of the devil." Cat said with a warm smile. The three of them looked up, seeing Yvette, with a big grin as well as a tray of her own food. Oh, same thing as Rhys. Yuck. With the type of food they were eating, it seemed like dinner. Guess it was suited right, since Rhys and Vaughn were about to head out to Pandora.  
Cat got up, moving her hand in front of her as she slightly bowed. She was letting Yvette scoot in, as Yvette did just so. Once she was seated, Cat sat next to her. Vaughn and Yvette were in front of each other, as Rhys and Cat were in front of each other.  
It was like a little family reunion. It was becoming more and more rare for them all to relax together. Now they just needed the rest of the gang.  
"Where were you?" Cat asked. They all seemed to go their own separate ways. Cat had to drop off some papers, Rhys had to clean the trash can he knocked over as Vaughn helped, and Yvette was going… wherever she was going.  
"I just had to check on something, no biggy." She simply brushed off. Cat didn't know why, but she felt off at ignored question. "What have you all been doing?"  
"I saved Cat from a ClapTrap." Rhys said proudly as he lifted his head up high, seeming to wait for an applause.  
"I waited in line to get these guys food." Vaughn shrugged.  
"I was saved by Rhys from a ClapTrap." Cat said. "That about sums it up."  
"Hmm." Yvette hummed.  
Cat held her coffee cup in her head, her fingers tracing around the brim of lid. She was lost in thought. It wasn't often when she got a chance to relax with her friends. It seemed to become less apparent, due to work and such.  
"How's work been treating you?" Yvette asked, taking a bite of her food.  
"It's alright. Have a few projects here and there. But now knowing I might have to work with Vasquez is a nightmare coming true." Cat groaned, leaning back in her chair in defeat. She had to work with Mr. Henderson, and now since Vasquez took his place, it only spelled trouble.  
"How about you two?" Yvette asked, leaning back in her chair, looking at Rhys and Vaughn.  
"Assquez." The two said, both unified in saying the singular word. In the meantime, Cat almost spit the coffee that she sipped out of her mouth.  
After she swallowed it, she laughed, as Yvette grinned.  
"You know what happened. Rhys is a janitor now." Vaughn said. "And now he's our boss. Knowing what he could also do to me is just as terrifying."  
"Not for long."Rhys grinned, eating some of his disgusting sushi. "The three of us are going down there and getting that Vault Key, and all of us are gonna be on top."  
The thought was exciting. Being on top. Looking over all the dicks running around Hyperion. They could even try and do what Jack did. Try and save Pandora. Just with more… peaceful aprochites.  
Cat grinned to herself, taking a drink of her coffee. Till the sentence Rhys gave out rang in her head like a school bell. "The three of us?  
"Yeah." Rhys said, as if it was common knowledge around the space station.  
"Like hell am I going back to that God awful planet." Cat spat, placing her coffee down on the table a little two harshly than she intended.  
Going to Pandora was the last thing on her mind. She would never want to go back. Just thinking about the murderous planet brought back memories she wish she could just wipe away.  
Rhys and Vaughn looked concerned, and even… whiny. Yvette just chuckled to herself.  
"Come on! We need you on this!" Rhys said, leaning in his seat, making Cat leaning even further back into her seat. She looked unimpressed, glaring at Rhys and Vaughn.  
"We need your help." Vaughn said, pleading.  
"You need me why?" Cat asked, raising a brow.  
"You were on Pandora. What if something goes bad?" Rhys said.  
"So you're expecting trouble?"  
"I thought Yvette was going to send down some Loader Bots if things go down." Cat said, now glaring at the three of them, wishing that Yvette would help her out. She simply grinned her snarky grin, and folded her arms, enjoying herself.  
"Do either of you know how to shoot a gun?" Cat said, an unimpressed face appearing on her.  
Neither of the boys responding, looking down in guilt. "Oh my God." Cat complained.  
"The two have never even held a gun before in their life." Yvette smirked, feeling satisfied by this.  
Cat only looked that them with a disbelief look, her mouth slightly ajar. "Vaughn, you were saying how you would have bought a gun if Rhys got his promotion!" Cat said, looking at the now discouraging Vaughn as he frowned with guilt.  
"Yeah, to like, look cool, and stuff." Vaughn mumbled. "I did want to learn how to shoot it, though."  
"See, that's why we need your help." Rhys said.  
"Yeah, but I also need to work. Did you forget how I am the Main Engineer of Hyperion?" Cat said, frowning at the two. "I have important work to do. I can't just leave and think nothings going to happen."  
"You can take a vacation day!" Vaughn blurted out, smiling nervously.  
"Yeah. Just call in and take a day off. I'm sure it won't affect anyone." Rhys said, smiling as he shrugged, hoping to win Cat over. "It'd be like returning home for a bit. You know, like going back to the place you grew up and loved."  
"Yeah. A planet that tried to kill me everyday." Cat glared. "I never liked Pandora. If I ever did, then I was lucky to look past the bad things. But it's gotten worse since Jack died. There's more bandit activity, more killing, more everything! That was never home to me."  
"So you want us to go, and be unprotected. Surely, you know the dangers. Are you willing to let us leave with the possible change of killing ourselves?" Rhys said. Cat could feel the gears of anger clicking and turning inside her head.  
"You're a grown man, don't you dare play the guilt card on me." Cat pointed her index at him. "That's real low."  
"But what's more lower is letting us go alone on Pandora." Vaughn said, countering her argument.  
"Come on. It'll only take a few hours. No biggy. Maybe even less than an hour, if things go well." Rhys said with a warm smile. "How about this. If you go, and I get my promotion, I'll buy you anything that comes to mind."  
Cat soon raised her brow at that. Anything, huh? Cat thought for a second as she tapped a finger on her desk. Although she didn't like the idea of leaving the safety of Helios to go to a murderous planet, she did have the opportunity to get something really expensive. Maybe she can Rhys to buy Buttstallion for her. Then she looked up at them, smiling. "Deal."  
Rhys and Vaughn soon smiled, doing a victory dance. "Yes!" They both said.  
"Oh yeah, we're awesome!" Rhys said as he laughed. Cat simply rolled her eyes with a smirk.  
She couldn't believe she was heading back to Pandora. It had been years since she's been there. 7 years. And she wasn't happy about it. Cat hoped to never go back there, but of course life and it's stupid ways. But, maybe she might like it… Maybe.  
"What do you think you can get from a janitor?" Yvette asked, looking at Cat with a sardonic grin, raising a questioning brow.  
"Hey!" Rhys growled, not enjoying being made fun of by his new position.  
"Eh, who knows. However, if it's coming out of his check, then I'm happy." Cat grinned. Till the curved lips turned into a downwards frown as she thought more onto the situation. They simply can't get off the station with a bodyguard, a requisitions, and two accountants.  
"But, I'm asking for more help." Cat stated.  
Both Rhys and Vaughn stopped their victory dance, looking down at Cat with a raised brow. "Wait wait wait?" Vaughn said.  
"I don't think that's such a good idea." Yvette countered, now seeming concerned by the sudden statement Cat declared.  
"Who are you gonna tell?" Rhys asked.  
"My roommates." Cat stated.  
"We can't have more people knowing about this." Rhys said, folding his arms over his chest.  
"Do you honestly think a requisitions, an accountant and a bodyguard really keep you from being noticed?" Cat said, now folding her arms over her chest.  
"Well I did… before you said that…" Rhys said, rubbing the back of his head.  
"You need to make sure that someone checks the surveillance and so on. Iliana can do that, since she's a member of the head of servanican. We can then ask Benedict for medical support, in case someone got hurt. He goes to Pandora all the time, this won't be any different. Then we can ask Iliana to send down anything from my office that we could use, such as weapons, supplies, so on." Cat said, finishing her plan with a smirk. "And then Yvette can make sure we have a ride ready, meanwhile Vaughn has the money."  
Yvette silently watched the three planning as a grin on her face appeared, glad that she was a key part in the plan. Made her feel important.  
Rhys and Vaughn considered, having thoughtful faces as they thought. "Plus, Iliana is a hacker nerd. One time she hacked into Jack's personal logs and found out she had a daughter. Soon later other people did so, and found out. Iliana is a hacking god, which can be of use if we ever need it. Such as security and what not."  
Both Rhys and Vaughn looked down at Cat, who waited for their response. "Fine." Vaughn said.  
"Only if they promise not to tell." Rhys said.  
"I'll make sure they don't." Cat chuckled.  
"Pinkie promise?" Rhys said with a smile as he held out a pinkie.  
Cat rolled her eyes and smiled as she took her pinkie out and hooked it with Rhys'. "Pinkie promise." She confirmed.  
"What about Alex?" Vaughn asked. "We gonna keep him in the dark? I'm sure he's gonna be suspicious that two of his roommates are gone without saying a goodbye."  
"I'll just have Iliana tell him." Cat shrugged.  
"Iliana tell me what?" A low voice said.  
The four all jumped, as a hand was placed on Cat's shoulder. Yvette was a might gasp, as Rhys and Vaughn both screamed like little girls.  
Frost first instinct would have been to rip the dude's balls off, but the voice of a friendly familiar manner might have just saved him.  
"Alex." Yvette breathed as the big gasp she left out earlier of sharp fear was still struggling to get air back in from the jumpscare. She had a hand placed on her chest, over her heart. "You're going to give me a heart attack one day."  
"I'll see to it, then." Alex laughed. They all looked at the huge man, as his broad shoulders jumped up and down from his mighty laughter. Although he was big, he was ripped as hell. You can clearly tell by how his entire outfit is tight in about every spot. His dark brown dark skin smooth and shiny. His big lips curving at the tips as he laughed. His chocolate brown eyes squinted as his big smile covered most of his face. His black hair was short, trimmed well, with the sides having two lines completely shaved. He wore a full black long sleeves, looking like it had scales. Then some baggy grey ammu pants, with a metal belt, the color outline grey as it had a glowing yellow iris in the middle. The belt had several grey bags, as well as a strap that had a Inventory box, a shield and a holstered pistol. There was a grey protector gear chest piece on him and around his arms, as he had grey metal pieces on his knees. Each piece of course having a yellow strip. He then had black combat boots, with a metal shell on it other than the moving joints. There was a metal piece on Alex's right shoulder, almost high enough to touch his ear. The metal piece was attached to a sort of metal bag on the right side of his back, holding whatever mysteries may be inside.  
Alex was a big dude, and a handsome one. His dark color skin with his chocolate brown eyes. His black hair was very trimmed, with each side having two lines completely no hair. Alex was very tall, as well. Not as tall as Rhys, since Rhys was over 6'3'', Alex was probably 5'11''. So still tall. But, his muscles certainly made him look intimidating.  
However, Alex wasn't intimidating at all. He was a friendly goof ball, who knows how to kill someone.  
"Seriously, though, Iliana tell me what?" Alex asked, raising a big dark brow.  
Cat groaned in frustration, knowing that she'll have to explain the same thing to the others as well. She groaned loudly, as her back rolled as she leaned over the table, placing her head into her palms as her elbows were supported by the table.  
She then shot back up, her swearing her back cracked. She took a big deep breath as she had a big smile plastered on her face, although anyone can see that under that fake smile was frustration. She looked over to Alex, as he stood next to the table, watching her as if she lost her mind.  
"Iliana will tell you later. If I tell you now, you will only get mad and go on a rampage, and will whine on and on and on, and I do not want to deal with that, because I have a lot on my plate as it is right now, so Iliana will tell you later, and you will not whine and question, you will act like you heard nothing, because I swear to God if you ask I will shoot you in your big forehead." Cat breathed, not realizing she's been saying that entire sentence without breathing. Veins were popping out of her forehead and hands as her face was turning red from not breathing. After a few seconds of awkward silence, and said, "Alright?"  
Alex had mix emotions. Shock, fear, disturbance, trepidation, dread, consternation, dismay, so on. His eyebrows were raised, as so were his eyelids to show his surprised eyes, as his mouth was slightly ajar, unsure of what to say. Till a few moments passed, and he nodded. "Sure, sure." He said weakly.  
"Good…" Cat said, now having a headache. She did not want to tell him, because then he would want to tag along. As much as she loved the dude, he only knew how to fight. Hell, he was even a bodyguard for Helios. Personal bodyguard, funny and tough as hell.  
"We need to get ready." Cat said, wanting to leave. She sat up, picking up her coffee.  
"Yeah, we only got a couple hours." Yvette said, following Cat. Soon Rhys and Vaughn did the same, picking up their trays.  
"Okay, we'll meet down on the way to the loading bay." Rhys said, looking at them all.  
"Sounds like a plan." Vaughn said.  
Soon enough, they all disbanded, as some threw away their leftovers as others went to the places they needed to go. It was time to prepare for the trip. Yay. Yipee. Time to go to Pandora and die!  
"See you all later!" Rhys said as they all were far away. Cat was on the stairs, walking up. She glanced back, waving at the two boys as they walked further into the Hub of Heroism. Their place was that way. Yvette too waved, as she was going something Cat was unsure of.  
"Guys… Hey, guys wait!" Alex called. Nobody realized they were leaving him behind at the table. He slumped over, frowning dramatically. "You guys suck…" He muttered.

-

The smell of coffee was always nice inside her office. Cat leaned back in her chair as she sat down. She tried to recap the day so far, and yet it was still bizarre. What was she getting herself into? They were heading down to Pandora. _Pandora_. To snatch a Vault Key from under Vasquez's noise. She did like the idea, proving Assquez and beating him at something. But just the thought alone of heading to Pandora was scary. It was her original home. And sadly, her home was a living hell. Not a single good thing could pop up to mind when it came to Pandora. Well, the sights are beautiful, but that's about it. Everything else about it was bad. The people, the animals, the plant life, about everything that you could interact with could kill you!

A deep breath escaped Cat's lip as she closed her mismatched eyes, a headache now forming. She rubbed her temple with her thumb and index as she thought. How can she go to Pandora? Why was she going to Pandora? What if the deal didn't work? What if something goes wrong? The deal is in a bandit town. A friggin bandit town! That just shows bad news. And a building called 'The World of Curiosities?' What type of building is that, a museum? If so, what does it hold in there? Crazy animals? Dead bodies? It could be anything, knowing Pandora. Maybe it was a death trap. Pandora sure do hate Hyperion. Maybe they just want to kill a few, tricking them saying that they have a Vault Key. Now to think about it, it could be a trap. It would make perfect sense. Dragging Hyperion workers down to a bandit town. Ohhhhh, now it's fishy.

What would they do once they got back? How would they even get back? Maybe they can use the Vault Key as a bargaining chip. Hyperion gets the Vault Key if all of her friends can get a promotion, or something. She didn't know. But, once they get it, things were going to change. Hopefully for the better.

Rhys and Vaughn might have plans. Hopefully they did, anyways. If not, well they would think of something. They're smart… Sometimes.

Cat sat up from her chair, as it was gently pushed slightly behind her. She stretched, her arms out and all, and they soon rested to her sides. She glanced around her office, now noting to how little clean it was. Better than earlier, but not good to be declared 'alright.' She didn't have time to clean, though. She'd have to call out, get ready, and go get her friends. Maybe getting her friends would be first priority.

Cat sat back down in her chair, scooting it closer to her desk, as she rested her elbows on it. She reached for the keyboard on her laptop, grabbing onto the mouse with her right hand as she did so. She got rid of the tabs that were on the screen to show the desktop. It was a picture of her and her friends chilling on the couch, watching a movie she couldn't remember. She rolled her eyes and smiled, as the picture had Benedict throwing popcorn at everyone. None of them were happy.

Cat clicked through a few apps, searching for the video call. Since she'd sometimes get bored, she'd often video chat friends. And when they didn't answer, she would spam. She laughed evilly to herself from the thought.

Cat clicked onto an app, and it sooned opened up. Cat scrolled through her contacts, it oddly being long due to the many meetings and such from work. But, she did find Benedict and Iliana, set them in a group, and clicked the green call button.

Cat glared at the screen, listening to the annoying ring from it. It was painfully annoying. It was a pet peeve. It was like torture. Just, that it was a ringtone. Cat had no idea how to change it, but she sure wished it. Maybe she could use the Vault Key as a trade to _change the damn ringtone!_

"This is Iliana speaking." Iliana said cheerfully. She too, was at her desk inside her room. Iliana didn't have to work today. Cat noticed how plain her light blue colored room was. She didn't see anything in the background other than the wall.

Iliana looked sweet that day. She had her very short red hair all nice, with the bangs being very long were it wrapped over the top of her head to her left into a sweet orange curl. Dyed hair was cute on her. Her dark skin was all clean, as her yellow sun contacts looked bright. She a pink t-shirt on, as below she could not see from the angle. Iliana was leaning forward towards the camera, her lower arms on the desk folded.

"Hey. Yeah, uh. I need to ask you and Benedict a favor." Cat said.

Iliana nodded. Till she frowned, raising a brow. "You do know Benedict is working right now." Iliana asked, as the ringing ended for Benedict's call.

"I know." Cat smiled, calling him once again.

Iliana only chuckled, shaking her head. "You gonna give me some insight of what we'll be doing." She asked.

Cat lifted her arm, the hologram tablet appearing, and after a bit, Iliana had a bing from her computer, getting a file from Cat. Cat simple smiled as she placed her arm down, disabling the hologram tablet.

"A bit of information is on there." Cat said, once again calling Benedict when the call was cut short. Cat quickly called again. Iliana snorted. "I shall force him to answer if I have to." Cat smirked, evil in her eyes.

"WHAT! WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT!" Benedict's voice pierced through the speakers. Cat was surprised it didn't break. Both Cat and Iliana started to laugh at his sudden burst of anger. On the screen, though, Benedict looked up from his screen, an apologetic look on his face as his eyes drifted away. He must have been watching someone. Now at the thought, Cat snorted as someone must have been giving Benedict a strange look from his outburst.

"What do you want?" Benedict asked with a hiss. He glared back at the screen.

His blue eyes glared at the two, as Cat noticed where he was. He was in his little office, the medical bed in the background aside from the medical supplies. The room was lit up brightly up the light on the ceiling, reflecting the pictures of the human body that was hanging on the wall.

Benedict looked mad. Even though, whenever he's mad no one can take him seriously. He had his white doctor coat on. It was buttoned up, with pockets on his chest, with his ID hanging out, as well as pencils. He wore a yellow bow tie, looking all fancy. On it, of course, once again, had the tradition bee honeycomb pattern on the left side of it. Benedict's blonde hair was all combed and held up by gel, it's small blue strips in his hair. The sides were short trimmed, as the topper part of his head was long and pulled to the right side. He wore blue glasses, the shape a circle per glass. He had a long face, with a pointy nose. He had a massive jaw line, and his mouth had adorable dimples.

"Ayeeeeeeeeeeeeee." Cat said with a smile. That was only returned with a glare and an angry sign from his nose. "So, I need to have a little chat with you two." She continued.

"Can it wait after work?" Benedict asked.

"No, because then it'd be to late." Cat said.

"Too late for what?" Iliana butted in. Cat hesitated for a second, thinking of how to start explaining the little plan her and the others had. "Why does this file have stuff about a Vault Key?"

Iliana was raising a brow as she read through her computer, seeing what appeared. "Keep your voice down!" Benedict said suddenly. He reached for something on his desk, as he unwrapped the blue earbuds he had. He soon plugged it in as he rested his the buds in his ears. "What the hell, why are you talking about...that?" Benedict hesitated.

"Because. Remember how Rhys got a promotion?" Cat asked.

"Yeah, why? How'd it go?" Iliana asked with a smile.

"Terrible. Vasquez screwed him over after he killed Henderson and took his spot. He demoted Rhys." Cat said.

Both Iliana and Benedict looked at Cat with shock, mouths dropping and eyes wide. Cat would have laughed if the situation wasn't serious.

"That bastard!" Benedict yelled.

"Assquez seriously did that?" Iliana asked.

"Yeah, I know. He threw Henderson out of an airlock." Cat said.

"What about Rhys? What was he demoted to?" Iliana asked. Her brows turned to a more worried expression.

"Assistant Vice...Janitor." Cat hesitated, making it more dramatic, adding the same flare, the exact same tone Vasquez had with Rhys.

Both Iliana and Benedict both gasped, hatred in their eyes.

"At least it ain't the worst job out there." Benedict muttered.

"That's not saying much." Iliana muttered. "But that doesn't explain why I have a Vault K-"

"Don't-...Don't say that out loud." Benedict ordered, almost whispering.

"What?" Iliana asked.

"Do you have any idea what people would do if they hear about a...That...Thing…" Benedict said. "Can we like...name it?"

"You want to name a V-" Cat began.

"Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh. Stop it." Benedict hushed. He sounded like a helicopter. "Don't say it."

"You have earbuds in, dumdum." Iliana said.

"It's better to be safe then sorry." Benedict said.

"Okay, let's just call it...Bob." Cat said.

"Bob? Seriously?" Iliana asked.

"Are you honestly complaining?" Cat countered, glaring at Iliana. Who only nodded understandingly. "Okay… So this… _Bob…_ When Rhys got demoted, Vasquez was caught in the middle by a call. Some guy named August. He was talking about buying a V-...buying a Bob. He's selling one to Vasquez. It cost 10 million dollars." Cat said.

"Only 10 million?" Iliana asked.

"That ain't even a hundredth of what those are worth." Benedict said.

"Yeah, whoever this August guy is, he's getting ripped off. But that isn't the point. The point is… It's on Pandora. Rhys, Vaughn, and I are going to go down there and steal his deal."

"WHAT!" Both Iliana and Benedict yelled.

Cat only cracked a grin as she watched their reaction. They were going to kill her. "Yeah… But, it won't be that bad. We're just going to a town, picking up the Bob and heading back to Helios. Won't take long at all."

"Wait wait wait. No." Benedict said, sticking an index up to shut her up. "Absolutely not."

"Why not!" Cat asked.

"Uh, because it's Pandora." Benedict said.

"Yeah. Crazy killers, guns, knives, explosives, and about every single living thing that could kill you. About everything would _want_ to kill you!" Iliana said.

"Yeah, but you two want to kill me right now." Cat said simply.

"True." Iliana and Benedict nodded.

"Plus we'll only be there for a couple hours. What could go wrong?" Cat asked, shrugging.

"You do know that whenever someone says that, something goes terribly wrong, right?" Iliana said, raising a brow.

"That's only in movies." Cat said.

"Hey, you never know. We could be in a movie. Or a TV Show. Now to think about it, we would be a funny TV Show… Maybe a book, too." Benedict said, more like to myself.

"Well, that doesn't matter. What does is your guys' lives." Iliana said.

"Yes, and we are well protected. We got Yvette giving us a vehicle for the trip, and to also send a Loader Bot or two if we need, it and some supplies if necessary. Then, we have me, since I was raised on Pandora and actually know how to shoot a gun. I was only gone for 7 years, what's the difference?" Cat shrugged.

"Uh, a big difference." Iliana said, leaning back in her chair as she folded her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, well if you two decide to help it would even make us more safe." Cat said, using the same method both Rhys and Vaughn used on her earlier. "Benedict, you can helped make sure no cameras or evidence can be recorded of our departure to Pandora, and you, Iliana, can send in any medical supplies if we need it." Cat said. "So please, will you help us? This is just a plan to get back at Assquez. You guys hate that douche too. Plus, we'll have a freaking Vau-..We'll have a freaking Bob! A freaking Bob!"

Benedict and Iliana seemed to think about it. Both having concentrated faces, wondering of all the choices they had. It was nerve-racking to have to wait for a response. And if they say no, what could she do? She tapped her foot on the ground, as her fingers tapped on the desk, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"Sure." Iliana shrugged.

"Wait, you're actually allowing this to happen." Benedict asked.

"Yeah. I trust Cat enough. As long as she doesn't get herself or the others killed." Iliana said with a smile.

"I will do my best." Cat gave a sheepish smile.

So now both Cat and Iliana waited for Benedict's reply. He only glared at them, as he thought of how to answer. Until he sighed a defended sigh, his shoulders hanging. "Oh, now I'm just going to look like the bad guy if I so no."

"So, you're in?" Cat asked.

"... _Fine_ …" Benedict muttered, looking down, pouting.

Cat simply just raised her fist in the air in victory. "Yes!" She yelled, smiling all the while. "Okay, I'll see you later." Cat looked at Iliana. "And I'll see you at the car?" She looked at Benedict.

Benedict raised a brow. "Why are we meeting at the car?"

"Because you're coming." Cat said simply.

Benedict's face held many emotions. Frustrated, rage, concern, alarmed, and many more emotions. "I am not going to Pandora." He stated firmly, eyebrows bent forwards as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why not?" Cat yelled. "You go to Pandora all the time! It's nothing new!"

"We're going down to Pandora unsupervised! No guards, no equipment, nothing. Helios won't even know we're leaving. No one will know!" Benedict said.

"Uh, I'm a bodyguard. And it is supervised! We got Iliana, Yvette. Yeah." Cat said hesitantly, as she watched Benedict's expression change to an unimpressed one. He was so picky.

"Why do I need to come?" Benedict asked.

"What if one of us gets hurt?" Cat asked, frowning. Benedict was there only way of not dying in case someone got hurt, he had medical experience.

"What if I get hurt?" Benedict asked. "If I got hurt, what you three do?"

Cat wasn't gonna lie, he had a point. "Okay, okay. You have a point. But, I will not let anyone hurt you. I have full experience on Pandora. Plus we're only gonna there for a little bit. No worries. I don't even think I'll have to fire a bullet." Cat said with a warm smile. "Plus, what if one of us gets hurt? Would you want us three to die on Pandora, suffering, needing a medic to help us." She pleaded.

Benedict looked nothing more than annoyed. His lower lip was out, pouting, as his brows furrowed. His blue eyes were piercing. Meanwhile Iliana looked like a dope, trying not to laugh.

"You know what. Fine." Benedict said, frustration in his voice. "I know you won't stop whining, and plus I got free time after work." He shrugged, looking away, as if he was disappointed in himself.

Her devilish grin on Cat soon appeared, her practically jumping in her seat in joy. "Yes! Oh my gosh, thank you!"

"So when do we start?" Iliana asked.

"Now." Cat asked, now being serious from her burst of joy, which was met with open mouthed faces. "We need to head down to Pandora in a couple hours."

Iliana scoffed, holding his arms over his chest. "You want me to mess up servanance in a couple hours? You do know that I should be arresting you. Well, now the both of you."

"Oh, come on. We're friends. Friends help each other do bad things. Plus, we'll get a Bob in the end of this." Cat was trying to be serious, but she just shook her head as she chuckled when she said 'Bob.'

Iliana only glared at her, as Benedict tried to help her argument. "Hey, come on, dude. You know you want a Bob." Benedict smirked, wriggling his eyebrows. Cat only laughed at the joke as Iliana simply glared at him with piercing slits of eyes. "Plus, you want to help Rhys get revenge on Assquez, don't you? You know you hate him."

"You already said you were in. No backing out now." Cat said, pointing an index at her.

Iliana simply sat there, pondering thoughts in her head. Until she closed her eyes with a sigh, and opened them with a determination sparking through them and a white smile. "Alright. I'm in."

"In on what?" A voice said, coming with the sound of doors opening. Cat quickly looked up from her computer as she ended the call, with the confused expressions on Iliana's and Benedict's faces.

Cat felt like she was going to have a god damn heart attack. That jump scare was going to be the end of her, she could swear on it. Frustration boiled inside of her, as she looked angrily had who intruded her office. Cat looked up in surprise, seeing the intruder walking into her office, stepping over machines and papers that were scattered on the floor. Cat soon realized that it was none other, than Assquez.

"Did you forget to knock?" Cat asked, folding her arms over her chest as she glared at him. There was a lot of glaring, she noticed. She leaned back into her chair, resting her left leg over her right.

"Knocking, just, isn't for me." Vasquez said, looking around the room, unimpressed. He stopped at Cat's desk, looking down at her.

Cat watched him, waiting for something to say. Him now standing in her office, nonetheless without knocking, was annoying beyond anything else. And that was saying a lot. But what could he possibly want is unsure. Maybe since he took Mr. Henderson's job, he has to work with Cat now. She remember the many times she had to work with Henderson. Although kind, he was a massive racist, and would comment if any other her dark skinned friends came in. He was a prick, and now was replaced by another prick. Ironic, huh?

"What do you want?" Cat asked, raising a brow.

"I was looking for you-" He began.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can tell since you walked in here. Just get to the point." Cat interrupted him. Even though he was now her partner, that didn't mean she wasn't allowed to annoy him.

Vasquez seemed to hesitate, staring at Cat with an annoyed look. "Anyways-"

"Anyway." Cat corrected. She loving this. She could just see the anger boiling in him, but he couldn't do much, since she was still a more higher up than he was. Although, he was getting close.

"Anyway…" Vasquez said, it laced with a vicious lenom. "With my new position, I was informed that you would be working for me." He said, high, mighty, and proudly. Even so happy with himself, he even was adjusting his tie to make himself look even greater. Or so he thought.

Cat narrowed her eyes at him. "Last time I checked, I will be working _with_ you, and you will be working with _me_." She spat. "Alright. Just because you got a new position, that doesn't mean you can walk around and stomp on everything like an tramtromic child."

Vasquez narrowed his eyes as well, putting his shoulders up slightly, making him feel more dominant in the situation. Which only caused Cat to smirk.

"To be honest, I'm confused to why we'd be working together. My skill set is much more higher on my part. We have different backgrounds of work, and such." Vasquez said. He was here for answers. He was here trying to feel for some way onto how he could be on top.

"Please. Elaborate." Cat asked, hoping to get some sort of amusement out of his response.

"I was informed that you were to make…" Vasquez started, taking a glance behind him at the mess behind him. " _Better_ … weapons and equipment for my men on security." He said with a smirk, hiding an insult in his wording.

Cat ignored his comment, as she thought about the equipment. It did make sense, since his position usually had a target painted on it's back.

"Aside from me making things for you, what other involvement do we have to do with each other?" Cat almost complained, having it a sort of insult to him.

"I have to explain what specifics of the weapons." Vasquez said.

"Oh, so now you're telling me how to do my job. A job that I earned way longer before you had _stolen_ yours." Cat stung, a smirk appearing on her face as she now leaned against her desk, hands together laying on it.

"I earned my job, alright. I worked for it, and I was doing my job of being a man making his own destiny." Vasquez said loudly and proudly, standing up even more straight and puffing out his chest, smiling widely, as if he were expecting an award or something. How Cat would love to punch him in his genitals right now. And what was the big deal about a man making his destiny.

"Yeah, working real hard by throwing Henderson out an airlock." Cat grinned.

Vasquez only stared at her, eyes piercing, thinking of multiply ways of how she knew. "Look, that's what a man does when someone else gets in the way of a man's destiny, alright sweetcheeks?" Vasquez said with a smirk. "And you don't want that happening to you, do you?"

"Is that a threat, Vasquez?" Cat asked, unimpressed. She loved doing that. Vasquez was always the kind to scare people. But he didn't scare her one bit. He more amused her than scared her. "Because if so, what exactly do you think I would be getting in the way of?"

"Don't know. But knowing to how I had demoted Rhys, I'm sure you're not to happy about it, either." Vasquez said with a smirk. "I know you're up to something. And when I found out what, you won't be so lucky the last time you were thrown out an airlock." He threatened, leaning forward, placing his hands on Cat's desk, looming over her. But this didn't affect her. In fact, it encouraged her. She too leaned forwards, slightly moving off her chair to meet Vasquez eye to eye.

"Good luck with that... _Wallethead_." Cat said, anger and determination sparking in her eyes. She watched Vasquez intently, looking at his eyes as he searched her, frowning. She noticed the anger and irritation in his eyes. The vexational expression on him was fearful. Trepidation soon truded through Cat, but she did not regret her comment.

To be honest, it was kinda funny. Seeing the boiling frustration but yet the stunned wordless face was amusing. It might be fun to work with him. Might find new fuel to light the rude sayings about him.

But all fun in games were over when Vasquez suddenly smiled, leaning back, lifted his enormous hands off the desk. There were sweaty palm prints at the edge of where his hands once were, now fading.

Cat too leaned back into her chair and lifted her hands up to rest them on her lap, tension growing between the two. It was an odd predicament. It was an unpleasant situation. Usually, Vasquez would have a lot to say, but with how quiet he was. It was uncomfortable. Cat's spine went rigid when she sat up straight.

Vasquez shifted, her brows furrowed as he looked down at her. His broad shoulders were pushed back and he held his head up high, looking down at Cat in disappointment.

Wallethead must have hit him hard. When Jack was alive, he gave Vasquez that nickname. It's hard to believe, but Vasquez was in the mailroom at the time, and Jack would like to stick money onto his head. He was going through some hair implants at the time, and Cat thinks he still is, to how often he changed his hairstyle. Not only did Jack just stick money to his head, but whenever he saw Vasquez, he'd punch him. Doesn't matter what he was doing, he'd always run up to Vasquez, and punch. It was funny, really. One time Vasquez was holding this really really hot coffee, and Jack rounded the corner and sucker punched him. Coffee was everywhere. Well, everywhere on Vasquez. He was burnt, and looked like a crispy chicken nugget for days! Oh my God, it was hilarious. Guess you had to be there. But one thing Cat never knew, it was why Jack punched him all the time. Maybe since Cat complained about him a lot, maybe he did that as a sort of revenge for her.

"You know," Vasquez started suddenly, making Cat to twitch suddenly, "There was this time, when I looked up and admired one man in particular. The most impressive person I've ever known…" Vasquez started. Cat already knew who going to say. "Handsome Jack." She was right. "We had this special rapport. He would do this thing where he would punch me in the face whenever he'd see me. It didn't matter if he was busy… he always made time for me." He said, a sort of awe voice and expression in him. "Just boom. Right in the kisser. I was drinking from a mug when he got me one time."

Cat was trying her best not to laugh. _So that was how he saw it? As a sort of special one? Oh, he always made time for me_ ~ Oh my God! Cat's sides began to hurt as she held her breath to not let the laughter out. She has gotten some new fuel!

"I am sorry to break it to you Vasquez, but it sounds like-" Cat started, chuckling as she did so.

"You don't get it, you… you don't get it, you don't… the point is… I was his punching bag." Vasquez said angrily. Oh, just. _He thought they were exclusive! HAH!_

"I miss our time together." Vasquez said. "But through me… his legacy carries on."

Cat could have sworn her heart clenched inside her chest. She could feel vexation and rage inside of her. She could feel despair and sorrow. Her heart wrenched, her eye twitched, her veins beginning to pop out of her head, neck, and even arm.

Vasquez has no right to say that. He knew it was going to peez Cat off, he just knew. He has no right to compare Jack to whatever the hell Assquez was. None. Assquez was nothing to Jack. He was nothing compare to a cardboard box.

Nothing could describe how she was feeling none. Melancholy, pique, despondent, gloomy, awful, heart-rending, crossness, infuriate, and oh so many other things. Her head was began to shake as she couldn't think of anything say, anything to do. Her first instinct was to punch him, but she was a reserved person. Or at least she tried to be. But his little pull off with Rhys' demotion, and now saying that he was the next Handsome Jack. He is just asking to be killed a slow and painful death.

Frustration appeared on Cat's face, as she breathed heavily through her nose, as her clenched her straight white teeth together. She could feel her hands clenching onto the arms of the chair, her fingers feeling the leather as a sort of stress ball.

"Did I strike a nerve?" Vasquez asked with a leer smirk, it all irritating smug way.

He knew that that her and Jack were friends. Heck, she was his personal mechanic before he died. Most of his weapons was built by her. Heck, there were times where he stayed all night forcing her to stay awake to work on something new with his energetic help. It was fun. But, now with Vasquez comparing that to him. Ohhhhhhhhh, he had a death wish.

Cat stood up from her chair, it almost falling to the floor with the force of her legs lifting her up. She could feel a new force of energy, of new feeling of vitality. A new spark of feelings overflowing her did not work well, because it usually made her mad.

"You listen here, Assquez." Cat said, pointing at him as she rounded the side of the desk. He only kept the same smug expression as he looked at her. He was only a few inches taller, barely even looking down at her. But just the expression, the cocked eyebrow, the smug grin. It was as if he was looking down at her as a person. As a disappoint in the society. Like she was a cute little dog, meanwhile everything was too serious for her to handle. One thing she hated the most was being patronized.

Cat rounded the desk, now walking to Assquez, her index now on his chest. Even the force of it was strong enough to pushed Assquez back. The might she forced onto him forced him to take a step back to regain his balance.

"You have no right to say that. Handsome Jack was _my_ friend. _You_ were his punching bag. You are _nothing_ compared to him." Cat snarled. "You're just a wannabe, with no goal in life other to than personal gain. Jack was a hero. He saved people. He gave Hyperion it's fortune. All you have given is hell on this station. The only thing you're good at is getting more and more hair implants-" Cat was almost at the point of yelling, till she abruptly stopped herself from speaking.

Cat could feel a shift in the air, she felt something was off. She felt it immediately. She reacted with pure instinct.

Cat yelled a voice so loud someone could become deaf, as she dodged Vasquez's fist that was aimed for her jaw was easy, as she simply slid to his left side. However, Cat didn't expect to be over Vasquez, holding her metal hand on Vasquez's throat, her face holding in a hateful, dreadful expression. Cat could feel her _human_ hand high above her, her fingers clenched like a claw and slowly starting to glow a timid purple energy.

Vasquez was slammed on the desk, shifting it completely as items fell off onto the ground. The loud screech of metal on metal was ear pounding, but Cat didn't care.

Cat felt her clenched fist shake, the knuckled turning a white from the spreaded skin. She could feel power coursing through her veins as her head pounded. What the hell? What the hell just happened?

Vasquez was looking up at her, eyes wide and startled, his hands placed behind to push whatever self he can from the desk, but failing. Cat looked down at him, her eyes full of hatred, feral grimace.

The voice sounding boom that erupted from Cat's throat was powerful. So powerful, it shook the room. The window overlooking Pandora was trembling, the desk was shifting as the items on top of it bounced. Soon things began to settle down after moments past, to where Cat could only hear herself and Vasquez's deep breathes.

Her heart clenching was painful as it reacted to the fear and anger was coursing through her. She wish this wasn't happening. Oh how much she wished that didn't happen. It was a mistake.

The thought of ending Vasquez burned through her mind, as she could easily completely throw her fist straight through his skull. But she wouldn't. She couldn't. But her grip around his neck seemed to tighten, and Vasquez reached up to try to pry her hands away, as she watched fearfully as her eyes and her glowing like fist.

She needed to stop. Her emotions was getting the better of her. She couldn't keep going like this.

Her grip on Vasquez's throat loosened, as she took a few steps away, holding her flesh hand with her metal one, rubbing it. It felt so numb, so weak. Yet so powerful all the same. And the feeling was satisfying.

She was losing her mind. She knew it. Wait, maybe she wasn't. She was unsure. But the instinct reaction must be by her powers. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing. Wait, Vasquez tried to punch her. That bastard! She couldn't help but feel frustrated as she stared at her hand in pure shock.

The pulsating color of purple timidly shining every now and then was slowly dying, as it pulsed to the beating of her heart. She could feel it ringing in her ears, as the pulsating was speeding miles to fast. Her heart was clenching against her ribs, as she took deep breaths. She took anger management class about weekly, and one thing she learned was the deep breathing helped.

But it didn't stop her from being pissed.

She stared wide eyed at her hands, watching the pulsating purple soon begin to die down slowly.

Cat looked up as she rubbed her hand, the pulsating finally stopping after what seemed like years. She looked at the petratfied and irritated face of Vasquez.

Tiredness soon washed over Cat liked a flood. Her head was dizzy and heavy, her limbs were weak and sore, and her spine arched forwards in an inhuman way as she took a few more steps back to distance her and Vasquez. Her eyes wandered the ground as she tried to focus onto something, to try make all sense come back. It was working, for a bit.

Till suddenly her legs stopped working, as Vasquez took this as a moment of opportunity to kick her. A firm kick collided with Cat's stomach, and she knew she was down. Cat wrapped her arms around her stomach, as discomfort and the aching pain took over her inner food systems. Her stomach felt broken as she tried to get air into her lungs, as it was all pushed out. Her legs gave out from under her, and felt gravity takes it part to her kingdom falling to the ground. Her back went rigid once it collided with the metal ground, as she let out a groan of pain.

Cat stared up at the ceiling as she held her stomach, rolling to her side, crawling into a fetal position. The right side of her face now rested on the ground, causing an irritation to the connection of her robot arm to her skin. That was why she didn't like to sleep with it on. However, pain still flowed through her. She groaned in pain as she was able to finally get air back into her working lungs.

A small picture frame caught her attention as it laid in front of her, as well as many other objects, such as papers, writing utensils, and other objects of different sizes and colors. Cat looked at the frame that was about a foot away from her, and saw the picture of her and Jack. Hopefully it didn't break.

A surprise hit was something she did not expect. But Assquez could pack in a bunch. He was really, really strong. Heck, maybe if he hit her again he might break one of her ribs.

Why did he hit her? Maybe it was all the crap she was saying. But she was blinded in rage, and it was his fault. Maybe he was trying to kill her like what he did to Mr. Henderson. But that wouldn't make any sense. He wouldn't get her position. He was in a different ranking further below her. He didn't even share the same skill set as her. Maybe he was trying to kill her for sheer enjoyment. She knew it, he was a Psycho. She deserves a reward for her guess being correct.

"Now look what you made me do?" Vasquez said, as if he was forced to hurt her.

"Bootlicker." Cat called him, her voice low, but fueled with anger.

Vasquez simply stared down at her, as he walked to her side, and crouched down so he could face her. Cat just looked up and glared, trying to recover from the sudden loss of oxygen and the headache.

"Look, Cat, this is the same thing like what I did to Rhys earlier. He got in the way of a man's destiny. Don't do that same mistake." Vasquez said in a menacing tone. It sounded hostile, a threatening reminded for Cat. She only glared at him.

Assquez stood up, wiping his hands over his suit in case if looked bad, and he straighten his tie. He looked down at Cat once again, as she just laid there, looking dead. Like she had just experienced the most traumatic thing in her life. She laid there, lifeless. No emotion. Just staring at what was ahead of her. The picture frame.

What happened next, Cat could feel her life crashing as her heart stopped. It just happened so quickly. The shoe of Assquez had stepped, no. Slammed onto the frame. The sound of glass cracking, as the frame fell into pieces was nightmare fuel.

Cat stared wide eyed at what she witnessed in front of her. She didn't know what to feel, what to do. She just watched. That was one of the pictures she loved the most. And now it was destroyed. She didn't even know if she could print another one. But that was the original copy. The first one ever. And now it has a chance to get cut and crippled from Assquez's shoe.

Like mentioned before, Jack and Cat were best friends. Or she thinks. She wasn't sure. They would chat a lot, heck they've even been drunk together. But then there were times when she thought he was only trying to be nice because she was his mechanic. Or engineer, whatever. She was both. Well, they are the same thing. Sorta. A lot. But still.

Those wrist-mounted lasers Jack uses, Cat built those. He had an older version, and once Cat was given the assignment to make a better one, she tried her best. It was awesome. It had improved fire rate, fast recharge rate, and low cooldown. She could list a hundred things about it, but after she gave it to Jack, he had given her the supplies to build more machines that she would like. Do extract experiments without paying a dime. It was her playground she could ran around in for years.

Even with the gift exchange, Jack would like to chill down in her office, making funny and rude comments on her work. Even the music she played. How Jack would, on purpose, terribly sing along to it was hilarious. What was even more hilarious was the time when he tried to help, and yet the machine just exploded in his face. Cat was laughing for days. Jack even forced her not to work and had a movie night. He even brought in a couch and a TV without her consent into the office, and they watched some terrible old movie she forgot. But she got rid of it once he past. It just made her more upset every time she walked into the office.

They were close friends. She even knew his name. His real name. Or, his first name, anyways. She doesn't even no one knows his last name. Heck, maybe even he doesn't know. Using the persona of Handsome Jack for so long, it would be sadly true. But Jack, or she should John, was her best friend at the one. One of them, anyways. All the friends she had were all her best friends, she didn't care if people say you can only have one, screw them.

She missed the days he was alive. She felt like what happened to him was possibly her fault. Maybe if she spent more time on the weapon she built him, maybe he could have taken down those Vault Hunters. Maybe if she increased his shield he could have survived a few more bullets. She could have built better machinery. Heck, maybe even tried harder to convince to sign up for a New-U system. But he thought that Heroes never die. Sadly, he didn't even die a hero.

Cat just laid there, watching as Assquez lifted his foot up. He took a few steps back, watching proudly to what he done. He was dead. He was dead meat. He was a funeral coming up, and nobody is coming! Only she will be there, dancing on his grave! No, his corpse. Because he doesn't even deserve a grave!

This made Cat even more interested into going down to Pandora. Just so she can smite him. Getting that Vault Key, his surprised and angry expression, oh it was perfect.

"I'll be seeing you later. Got some uh, important matters to discuss about." He said, more like talking to himself. Because he was full of himself, of course. He soon turned, heading towards the door in pique. Not caring if he kicked anything or stepped on anything on his way out.

"Hey, when you do, I suggest knocking. Who knows what type of things might be pointing at the door if you don't." Cat half joked, half threatened as Vasquez swiped his ID Card there the keypad.

"Remember, Cat. Don't mess up another man's destiny, unless you know what's coming for you, alright? None of you, and your little friends can stop me. No matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you wish, you just won't. You just don't know your place yet. But in time, I'm sure you will come to an understanding." Vasquez said with a smirk. "I respect you, Cat. I hope you see that. But just like Henderson, just like Rhys. You needed to be taught lesson number two. Like what happened just now."

"Yeah, cause you can't teach me number one yet, because you have no humility over me. I am one of the Higher Ups, meanwhile you're still a medium." Cat said, finally being able to push herself off the ground, now on her read as one hand was placed on the ground to keep her upper body up. She reached her robot hand downwards to pick up the broken frame on the ground, having bits of it fall as glass fell to the ground. He was dead.

"You'll learn that soon."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heard that, done that, moving on, get out." She growled, ignoring him. She wasn't going to give him the pleasure of attention. And she wasn't to happy about that threat. If he planned on having a better job than her, than he had a long way to go.

However, after that, she heard the metal doors slide open, and closed. Finally! He was gone! "Thank you for leaving, you ass hat, stupid friggin Wallethead!" She yelled at the door. And to be honest, she didn't care if he heard her or not. But she looked angrily at the door, unhappy with it. How was he able to open it? She'd have to look into the keypad at some point.

Cat scoffed, not believing that Vasquez threatened to throw her out an airlock. That had happened once, however, she survived. Her story was that some employ had thrown her out, meanwhile she grabbed him and brought her with him. But in the story, she caught onto the inside of the airlock machine, pulling the man in as the door closed. He lost a foot in the process, but soon he was launched into space as Cat hung onto the wall. After awhile, it was stopped, and she was still inside, all safe and sound. That is at least what she told people.

Okay, so she got Benedict and Iliana in, now all they needed was to get the car, which Yvette would do. Everything was all set.

Cat smiled at the thought of all her friends. Rhys, the nerdy, awkward yet leaderish type of guy. Then Vaughn, the best bro to have around with his math and nerdy ways. Then Yvette, the snarky protective adult. Benedict, the cowardly goofy guy everyone loved. Iliana, the demanding yet sarcastic outgoing girl. Alex the strong friendly brute. And then Cat. She wasn't sure what she was. The supportive one? The snarky sassy one? No, Yvette was more sassy than her. And to be honest, so was Rhys. Cat chuckled at that. Even Benedict was!

Although, Rhys and Vaughn were right. She needed to get ready. But what did she need? A gun, of course. A shield would be useful too. Would Rhys, Vaughn, and Alex need one? Cat knew Alex already had one, but would Rhys and Vaughn need one? Would they even want one?

She would also have to bring a fresh pair of clothing. Having something that looked all professional and saying Hyperion was just a target freshly painted on your back with a bright red paint. She'd have to wear something casual. But now thinking of having to walk around Hyperion too. She'd have to have something that'd fit Hyperion, but also Pandora. Oh, this was going to be a tricking one. Disguise time.

But also more planning time. She'd have to bring a gun, maybe a knife, some elemental bullets. Elemental bullets were awesome. She'd use all the kinds. She'd have to bring her journal, ain't in hell is she leaving it in her office for Vasquez to come in and snoop around her office. No way, hozay. She should probably bring some money, if something bad were to happy, she could buy something, like food… or water, and such. Probably a map, too, of Pandora. Nah, they were only going to a town, not that big of a deal. Oh, maybe a grenade or two. Nah, she wasn't really the grenade type. Maybe Alex would like some. Cat could maybe use a class mod. Maybe. Agh, there was so many things to choose from!

Cat could think of all that later. What she needed was a disguise. Also a shower. Man, did she need a shower. Working with machines, with missing outcomes, and sleeping in work clothes can be smelly. First objective was take a shower, because once they get back on Pandora she will definitely be needing another one.

But she once again looked down at the broken frame in her hands. She slowly pulled the piece of paper out of it, seeing it over. It was ripped, and torn, and crippled. Of course. But it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. But, she'd need to print out another one. And buy a new frame. She glanced at the mess she caused from falling off the desk, as she could still feel the pain just tingling in her stomach. It felt like butterflies. If those butterflies had sharp fangs, and preferred human flesh. And they haven't had food in a long long time. That's how bad her stomach felt.

Struggling to get up, using the desk to support her, she clung onto the photo. Once she was up and on her feet, she adjusted to the heavy weight, feeling like the gravity had shifted in the room.

Either that, or the high blood pressure of anger boiling through her veins wasn't the cause of the issue. Which, now to think about, could be that.

Cat looked down at the mess, now noticing the other frames on the ground. Some were broken, others were still intacted. Cat slowly began to pick each one up, being careful as she did so. Didn't want anymore photos to be ruined.

She mumbled to herself, thinking of evil plans. How was she going to kill Vasquez. Maybe killing him isn't enough. Maybe she could get in the way of his _destiny_. What was his fetish with _destiny_ and that crap. It was weird. And slightly creepy.

Cat groaned an annoying groan, as she picked up a frame that had shattered on the ground. She gently pulled out the photo of it, instantly feeling the ripped and tattered picture. That one had all of her friends. No. She loved that picture too. This just adds to the list of reasons why to kill Vasquez. No. Assquez. That seriously had to be his real name.

Cat placed the two pictures onto the desk, each one next to each other. Both were bad. But both probably have been saved onto a computer. She could check out the files at home once she gets back from Pandora and sees Assquez's dumb shocked face.

Shoot, they're leaving in a couple hours. She's gotta start actually doing shit.

With that, Cat quickly grabbed the bag dangling off the chair, put the two photos in her bag and left her office. She needed to head home. She hasn't been there in awhile. Cat was sure to pick up her laptop, ID, and other things from her office she needed to take home. She held the laptop with a hand as it rested under her arm, meanwhile she held the bag strapped as it dangled from her shoulder. She decided she didn't care if she was wearing fancy clothes or not, people still looked away since she was a Higher Up. She didn't like the feeling of it, but it can be useful at points.

Cat was still nerved by the visit from Vasquez, even if it was short. But, why did he come? Just to inform her about the new weapons she had to build for his men. But it had to be more than that. Maybe to gloat to one of Rhys' friend that Vasquez was the man that screwed Rhys over. It did make sense for Vasquez. But then why did he ask Cat what his job was with her, even though he knew. Maybe he wanted to check and see if he could break into her office. She'd have to fix that. Since he's coming to visit later, and she'd be down on Pandora at the same time, she had to find some way to distract him from coming down to her office. Maybe she could call in sick. No, she already called in for a vacation day. Shoot. Maybe she could tell Vasquez that she was having a vacation. But then his suspension would be right that they were up to something, and then he would be onto them. Shoot. She was at a block. Maybe she could leave a note that said she was busy, or something. Or she could just leave him to be confused. He might just leave it that she wasn't in her office, and might come visit later. That was her best bet.

What was his deal, anyways. Sure, him and Rhys hated each other since they were battling for the same position for a long time, but why did he have to go so far to kill someone. To make himself feel better? To beat Rhys? To feel more powerful? Or was it something his _destiny_ told him? Whatever reason it was, his _destiny_ is going to fire back.

Assquez seemed to have a hobby for hurting people. There was no doubt that he probably punched Henderson a couple times before throwing him out an airlock. Then he punched Rhys. And then her. Did he have a list, er something? Maybe since he was a punchbag for Jack, maybe he wanted everyone else to be _his_ punching.

Assquez thought that he was following Jack in his footsteps. That his legacy carries on in him. Heh. No. To be honest, if anyone was going to live on his legacy, it'd be ButtStallion. Long story. Anyway, it wouldn't be him. It'd be a bad thing to follow in his footsteps. Even though Jack was a good friend, that didn't make him a good _person_. He was, at a point. But like mentioned earlier, things happened, and he changed.

Cat sighed, shaking her head. She did not want to think about Assquez or Jack any longer.

But what she couldn't get out of head was how her hand glowed. Cat had a deep secret that no one knew about, but one person. And that glowing had to be looked at. She could do so once she gets to the comforts of her home. She needed to leave right now.

Cat quickly walked, passing a New-U system. They were all over Helios, as a sort of transportation. Or a Fast Travel, if you will. You have to pay monthly though. Cat did pay for it, in case she were to die or something bad might happen to her. But she never used the Fast Travel system, since it made her feel lazy. She enjoyed walking around Helios, not matter how long it took. It was good exercise.

Soon stumbling upon an elevator, she pressed onto the yellow glowing button for the down button. She was going to head to her floor. Which was 2E21. Since there were several floors, they were organized by letters. And then the number before the letter showed which letter it was. 2E was the second E, since the alphabet was repeated several times. Each floor had 100 rooms each, so they were massive. The higher the floor, the more better fitted it was. Must be terrible on 1A01.

Cat went inside the elevator once the metals doors swooshed open, showing it was empty, and she stepped in. She turned on her heels, and searched for the buttons that about almost covered the side of the wall. She had to memorize where it was so she didn't have to search the entire thing for the next few minutes. Once she found it, she clicked the yellowing glowing button, and the elevator doors closed. She could feel the elevator begin to move, and as always, she got motion sick. She hated elevators. How it moved, how it felt, how small it was. It was terrible. Absolutely terrible. Cat never knew why she hated it, she just did. Maybe living in the middle of nowhere on Pandora for most of her life seemed to overcome the small space elevator.

Cat sighed as she rubbed her temples, getting stressed out. So much was going to happy. But then she grinned to herself as the reward they would have. A Vault Key. It was crazy. Truly crazy. Having one of those could have the entire galaxy try to murder you. And how much it cost. Ohhhhhhh, they were going to be rich.

Cat stopped her train of thought as the elevator door open, showing the hallway of where she needed to go. Of course, it looked the same as about every other hallway did. Boring. Plain. Flat. Boring. Did Cat already think of that?

Walking down the hall was short, as she pulled out her ID Card off of her waist. She swiped it through the keypad at was at her door, as the door unlocked open. Cat gently pushed the door open, entered inside, and closed it behind her. Finally home.

Home wasn't exactly the most fanciest place in the world, but home is where you make it. Since there were four people living there, making rent super cheap for each of them, there had to at least be 3 rooms. And there were, meanwhile Alex got the couch.

There fist thing you saw was the living room and dining room. To the right, at the door, was the black wooden table, with 6 chairs to company it. It had a two shelves at the corner, filled with decor, pictures, and more.

The living room was after it, off in the other corner further away. It was a huge black couch, with pillows of white and yellow. It could probably hold 4 people on it. Meanwhile there were two small black chairs on each side of the chair, slightly turned in towards the couch, each one being able to hold one person. In front of it was a black wooden coffee table, meanwhile further away on the side of the room was the huge TV hanging on the wall, over the white entertainment center. It held a bunch of gaming consoles, movie players, games, movies, controllers, TV remotes, and many other items scattering on it.

Then there was the kitchen, to the left of the door in the corner. It was a counter in the corner, making an L shape, with the cabinets being white painted wood and the cabinets being a light granite. There too was stuff scattered on it, with papers, knifes, and food and other kitchen supplies on it. Then there was an island on the white tiles, with the sink on the island.

The walls were a plain light grey, with pictures hanging on the walls holding memories. There was several lights dangling from the ceiling, personally made by her.

After the kitchen, and before the TV, there was a small entrance, going behind the wall, turning left and right. To the left, there was a white door to the bathroom. The single bathroom. Meanwhile four people lived there it was pain.

To the right, there was another white door which led into Benedict's room.

There was a similar thing to the right, between the dining room and living room. The door over there, to the left was Iliana's room. Iliana was probably hiding in there. Then the right door was Cat's room.

Cat walked further into the home. She was wrong. The first thing you saw wasn't the home. It was the awesome view of Pandora on the far war. They were lucky to get a room with a window. Which is why is got a lot more, but it was worth the view.

Cat went over to head to her room, till she decided to greet her friend before she did. Cat walked up to Iliana's door, and gently tapped. "It's Cat!" She called.

"Come in!" Iliana yelled on the other side of the door. Cat did was she was told, and grabbed onto the silver door knob, turning it, and opening the door.

Iliana still looked the same, but now Cat could see lower and saw that Iliana was wearing jean shorts and bare feet. Iliana had tiny feet.

Iliana was sitting at her desk, which was a nice white table, with the black computer set up and everything. The room was dark, but the light white light coming from the computer lit it up well. There was the light blue walls, with a few pictures hanging. There were frames hanging every now and then with a black frame. There was the single light on the ceiling, with a white fan attached to it. There was a white shelf in the corner, with it containing books and pictures and decor. The bed was a queen size, in the middle of the wall to the right, inbetween the desk and book shelf. Across it was a chest the color of black, holding unknown treasures that nagged at Cat. Then next to the chest was a white door leading to the closet

Iliana spun her chair to face Cat, her back deep in the chair, arcing upwards as her rear was about to fall off the chair. Her legs was far out, wide to keep her from falling.

"Sup." Iliana said.

"Sup." Cat said simply, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"What happened?" Iliana raised a brow, a worried expression on her face. "You just hang up and left us on call."

"Oh, uh… Yeah. Vasquez decided to pay me a little visit. Saying something about how he and I were to work as partners now. He says he wants new weapons for his men or something. Since Henderson is-... _Was_ a Higher Up, he needed workers to protect him." Cat said. "I course, ticked him off." She smirked proudly.

"Yes." Iliana muttered with a smile.

"Issue is, he wants to come visit later in a couple hours. Said that he wanted to talk about what type of weapons. As well as other things that I need to work on, and other crap I don't know about." Cat said, rolling her eyes at the memory. "But, if he said that I was up to something. And if he comes to my office, with me not there, he'll know his suspicions are right."

"Issue is, he wants to come visit later in a couple hours. Said that he wanted to talk about what type of weapons. As well as other things that I need to work on, and other crap I don't know about." Cat said, rolling her eyes at the memory. "But, if he said that I was up to something. And if he comes to my office, with me not there, he'll know his suspicions are right."

"So what do you plan on doing?" Iliana asked, raising a brow, crossing her arms over her chest as her head slightly tilted to the right.

"I have no idea." Cat said in defeat, falling back onto the bed. It was so comfy and soft, she thought she was going to die. "I mean, maybe I can do nothing. What's he gonna do if he sees I'm not there, meanwhile we come walking back with a Vault Key?"

"Well, there could be moonshots shot at you, or something." Iliana noted. She was right. He had the right to do so, since he would have the excuse of them stealing 10 million dollars. Darn.

"Well do you have a better plan?" Cat asked, lifting her slightly and narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"Yes, actually." Iliana smirked. Cat simply raised both her eyebrows as her eyelids dropped lower, giving her an unimpressed and questionable look. Iliana scoffed at that. "I can just distract Vasquez." She shrugged.

"And how will you do that, oh great mistress of plans." Cat said with a sarcastic tone and a grin.

"I dunno. I guess I could wing it." She said. "Since I'm not heading down to Pandora, I got time to spare. I'll be creative." Iliana said with a wink, which then was received by a frown by Cat.

"I don't trust your creativity." Cat said.

"Relax. I got this." Iliana said, as she curled her legs under the chair when she back arced upwards, so she sat up at the edge of the chair. With to how tall she was, her legs almost went all the way under the chair. She was 5'11". Always made Cat feel short. Just an inch off with her heels, but damn it she will grow. Even though she was tall for a girl, she wished to be taller!

"Sure." Cat said, getting up from the bed.

"I can ask your robot for help." Iliana added.

"Oh crap-" Cat said, running out the door, grabbing her bag as she did so. She had a robot she left in her room. She forgot to check up on him. Even though he can handle himself, it stilled worried her.

Right, the robot thing was kinda random. Okay, so Cat wanted a pet. They don't allow pets on Helios. Unless you seek it on, or the pet is a diamond horse named Buttstallion. Anyways, Cat decided to built a little robot, and is now one of her best friends. The best robot ever. But, she doesn't like it when he roams, because one time he ran out of the apartment, and ransacked Helios, running all over the place. It was kinda funny.

What was also funny was a diamond horse named ButtStallion. It was Handsome's Jack pet, only to smite some Vault Hunter on Pandora. And it wasn't a statue, no sir e. It was a living, walking, pooping horse. And it's poop wasn't poop, but guns. Yeah, it sounds like some kid thing, but it is real. No joke. She had ridden on it before once Jack told her to. It was funny. Yet weird. But she was too scared to ask how he got the horse. What wonders it came from will forever be a mystery.

Cat quickly opened her own door to be greeted by her room. It was dark. The light purple walls, also having pictures with black frames. The ceiling was littered with light bulbs dangling from wires, each wire being a different length. There was a twin size bed with its side against the wall, or more like inside the wall. A loft bed, hell yeah. Then there were shelves inside the wall, on each side of the bed, making it a tiny library. The shelves were full of books, almost completely covered by them. Then there was the white desk in the work of the room to the left, with the black chair, the computer and so on of other little supplies littering it. Then the other bookshelf on another wall, and one full almost full of papers pinned onto it of drawings and sketches of guns and designs. She'd draw in her free time. It was a stress-reliever, you can't blame her. There was a white closet door on the wall to the left, hiding her clothing.

However, the small grey machine that rested on the desk, kinda looking like a coffee maker, sat there. Empty. There was a little spot for the robot to sit at, to recharge. He'd usually just recharge because he got bored, even though he needed to be recharged like once a month. But he was usually there when she got home. Now, he wasn't there. Oh God, maybe he got out-

"AH!" Cat screamed, lifting her right leg up to curl into herself as she lifted her arms up to protect herself. She was jumpy. Very jumpy.

She screamed since something bumped, no. More like slammed into her leg, startling her. Cat looked down in panic as she almost dropped her laptop in her hands. And then a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she lowered her leg and arm. Her body from a tense to no relaxed posture.

Cat smiled as she looked down to see the little machine looking up at her. It was almost all grey, with a strip of yellow moving across at the bottom of it's head. His head was a sort of upside down bowl, with a square on each side cut out. He had little buttons on his head. He also had a little tube next, connecting to a square of metal. That was how the two legs were attached, on the side of the cube. The cube was mostly grey, but it also had a strip of yellow. The two legs didn't bend forwards, but backwards, with feet like the back legs of a dog. It was only 2 feet tall. And slim, other than it's big head. The machine also had this tail at the cube, small and pointed with a small ball at the end. It was like a door stopper that was on the wall. The machine looked up at her with it's single eye, looking sorta like a telescope, small and black. The Eye was all black, blinking. It was like a camera lense, zooming in and out.

Cat stared at the machine was it stared at her back, tilting it's head to the side.

It was kinda sudden in this story, but hey, it's full of surprises. Cat remembered the first day she started to build him. It was 2 years ago. Her first prototype was much different, being bigger and bulky. But it ended up exploding. Then the next one, and the next one, and the next one, till after months of testing, it finally worked. It was a doozy, at first. Once the robot was online, it took it's time to _learn_ about a few things. After exploring half of Helios on a goose hunt for the robot, he would not stop quit exploring the area he would be in. Since he couldn't talk, he would often just nug people non stop. Even though it was cute, it could be annoying. The robot didn't enjoy being alone in her bedroom for long. It'd usually get bored and try to find a way to breakout. Cat literally had to baby proof the entire apartment before he was allowed to leave the room. Which was weird, since he's allowed out if someone was with him. Maybe Iliana was getting annoyed and put him in Cat's room.

The machine was also one of her best friends, a small figure in the torn photo she had in her bag. The machine was awesome!

"Phillip!" Cat said happily. It was an unusual name for a robot. But it stood for something. **P.H.I.L.L.I.P. Programmed Hyperion Intelligent Life Locator In Planets**. It wasn't exactly what it was meant for, but it was the only thing she could think of. Picking an acronym name was hard. Originally it was supposed to be **A.R.O.A.T. Awesome Robot of All Time**. But it didn't flow off the tongue. So she thought of Philip. Philip has a tracking system inside of him. Give him something to track, he can do it. That's how she found the person who stole her ID Card. But he can't everything, he was to have a network source to it. But, if it has something from the object, like material or a small or something like it, it could possibly track it. Philip was like a dog! He could track stuff, running around and act like a dog. And is Man's Best Friend. Or, Woman's Best Friend.

"Hey, Phillip! What's up!" She asked, a big smile on her face as Phillip was jumping on her. Cat placed her items down onto the desk as she tried to calm Phillip down. Phillip fascinated her. With his A.I., he was like he was a real dog. To how small he was, to how he acted. If he had a dog disguise, no one would notice.

People would often ask what gender Phillip was. But Phillip didn't really have a gender. However, she did just call him a he, since it just seemed right. It did fit the name, too. But the bad thing about that is, everyone thought the tail was, ahem… Another thing…

"Hey, boy! You've been cooped up in here all day, you poor guy!" She said joyfully, with a bing of guilt. She felt sorry for him. Till all that guilt was swept away when Phillip decided to jump on top of her, forcing her to catch him so he didn't fall as well. Cat stumbled with her feet, keeping her warm hands on the bowl shaped head of the robot. And he was cold. Like, super cold. It wasn't fun. And the tons of pounds he weighed wasn't fun either.

"You need… To lose… Weight." Cat mumbled, struggling to say words as she tried to lift Phillip, the tiny machine that weighed a million pounds, onto the desk. Cat panted out of sheer pain, trying to gain her breath. Her arms felt like noodles, as they fell to her sides. She looked at the machine as it ran in circles on the desk, jumping and wagging it's tail in joy.

Cat smiled, rolling her eyes at Phillip. "I missed you too, buddy." She said, patting the machine's head once it stopped at the edge of the desk to look up at her.

Phillip is awesome.

Cat stretched, the bones in her back and arms cracking. She felt stiff. And tired. But then at the same time flooding with excitement. They were about to head to Pandora in a couple hours. But then she was confused. She still had no idea what to bring.

Going to Pandora could be something crazy and new. She's been down to Pandora several times for missions, of course, supervised with weapons and such. As well as with people who actually knew how to hold a gun. But now, she would be the only one who knew how to hold a gun. With two people who have never been down on Pandora. An accountant. And a janitor. Oh boy. _This is going to be fun._

It couldn't be so bad. Hopefully. But, what could go wrong. They simply will meet with a guy named August, show him the money, they show them the Vault Key. Then they trade, and then they'll have a Vault Key. All good. Although, being in a bandit camp doesn't really sound like a good idea to begin with. Plus with Vaughn going to be caring the money, anything can happen. Possibly a raid after them. What if they kidnap Vaughn? What if they try to open the case and then all the money would be gone? What if they all died? That was always a fear for Pandora she was used to, there really wasn't a point in worrying about it anyways.

Maybe the trip won't be bad. Maybe they can relax there for a bit. Maybe go for a drive. Go around town. Surely, the town might have friendly people. Cat's been to several towns. Sanctuary, for example. Friendly place. Although, she couldn't really see going back, since she works for the company who has tried to blow them up several times.

Hey, she could try and visit Sanctuary. She had some friends there. Would they even be happy to see her. It was so weird. Being able to go to Pandora and leaving. Most of her life, it was living on Pandora, hoping one day she could leave the planet. And now she can go there and leave anytime she wanted. It was weird. Uncomforting. Nerve-racking. Knowing how all her life it was a struggle, and now she can come and go whenever she wanted. That that she wanted to go back to Pandora. Heck, it being a view of her window was a constant reminder of where she grew up.

How were they going to get back? Cat knew she asked herself that earlier, but it was nagging her. They'll have a badass car driving around, but a car doesn't fly. Will Yvette send down a ship, or something? Maybe they can find a New-U system and travel back to Helios. Although, she was unsure if Rhys and Vaughn signed up for it. Now the thought if they signed up pondered her head. Great.

Cat sighed as she closed the door to the bathroom. She had already grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and a yellow hyperion towel. Because, Hyperion even had merchandise for about anything. The towel had an H on it, of course Hyperion yellow. The color for Hyperion used to be red, but when Handsome Jack took control, he changed it to yellow. Said it _pop_ out more. It did.

Not that she didn't hate the color, no, she liked it. It looked better than red. Plus yellow seems to suit Hyperion more than red. Plus, the Loader Bots look better after their new paint job.

Cat placed her items on the black counter of the bathroom. The bathroom was small, but clean. It had a little basket holding items of shower supplies and toilet paper on top of the white toilet. The cabinets were brown, and the walls were white. The mirror in front of the silver sink was huge, with two light bulbs at the top, shining brightly. There was a small yellow towel on the silver hanger to the left on the wall, as there was another longer one holding a bigger yellow towel in front of the toilet. The floor was plain white tiles, clean and spotless. Benedict was a clean freak. He hated coming into her office.

Pushing the yellow curtain open, Cat reached for the silver knob, and turned it to the left. There were two color lines around the knob, the right side having blue and the left having red. Originally it wasn't like that, but Benedict had everything organized. There were labels at the bottom of everyone's shoes saying 'left' and 'right'. Yeah. Everything had to be labeled. Everything.

The pounding sound of water falling from the faucet above fell onto the cold bath, the water drops jumping when in contact of the bottom of the bath. The sound was satisfying in so many ways, it reminded her of rain. She has not seen rain, or felt it, in such a long time.

Cat always enjoyed rain. It was always peaceful.

She pulled away from the knob, now standing as she closed the curtain to make sure the water wouldn't fall on the ground. She walked over to the mirror, seeing her own reflection. The mirror was huge. Thanks to Iliana, since she was a makeup freak, she liked having the 'full view.' Plus, all her stuff usually was scattered over the counter and Benedict would have a heart attack. Then Alex would get a camera, and so on with that.

Cat threw off her jacket, placing it on the counter. She hesitated when she pulled off her glove that rested on her left hand. But she did, seeing her hand. It contained many cuts and bruises, due to the expulsion of how she lost her arm. However, that wasn't the most naggy imagine of the hand, but the blue tattoos. Not that it was her fault that she had them. She was… born, with them.

She was a Siren.

And being a Siren is not fun.

Being a Siren meanwhile working at Hyperion was not fun.

One may wonder why a Siren would be in hiding at a facility much like Hyperion. So far, all the Sirens found were down on Pandora, looking for a Vault. However, Vault hunting was not her thing. Well, getting an epic amount a loot would be awesome, but the killing, and running around all of Pandora, and also adding the entire time looking for a freaking Vault Key. But now thinking about it, they will have a Vault Key in a couple hours. So… That was neat.

And she won't be the one to find it, since being a Siren and all. Plus, the Vault Key won't need any charging, so she wouldn't be forced to charge. The last time she heard of a Vault Key, it was by Handsome Jack and that a Siren needed to charge it. There was a different Siren charging it, a girl named Angel. Cat met her before, even her mother, too. But, one day her mother went missing, and then Angel was put into hiding. Cat never knew what happened to either of them, but with the new information on the power core for charging a Vault Key, Jack must have used her to charge it, but also contain her. Cat had no comment on it, since she didn't like the idea. But she never brought it up to Jack, since going through his computer and learning top notch stuff might have gotten her killed. Heck, maybe even have her Siren powers relieved and then she would be stuck in the same situation as Angel.

Cat rubbed her Siren hand, pondering on how it glowed earlier in front of Vasquez. And how he never seemed to mention it. But why? He would've, should've. And it was nagging at her, now knowing that Vasquez saw a part of her she wish he didn't see. If he knew that she was a Siren, everything in her life would crumble into pieces.

She looked at her Siren, seeing how blue tattoos could be seen on the palm. Great. It was growing. She had to keep her emotions in check, she couldn't have those being seen.

A Siren was this type of myristic creature, each with it's own unique powers. There were some Sirens down on Pandora that Cat heard of. Maya, Commander Steele, and Lilith. She met Lilith before when she was down on Pandora. But never really got to know her. But she never trusted Lilith. She also met Maya. She was nice. But also a mercenary. Both were, actually. Both also Vault Hunters. Cat heard of stories about them, mainly due to Jack's complaining about them, and how they fooled his plans all the time.

Lilith had this sort of teleporting power. And with a bunch of eridian, she could teleport a lot of shit. She even teleported a town called Santuracy, when it was in the sky! In the freakin sky! It was awesome! And it was all happening when Jack was shooting Moon Shots at the town. Nobody escapes Moon Shots. Nobody!

Lilith's teleporting power, er whatever, was called Phasewalk. Basically, she turns invisible to enemies, move faster, and cause damaging shockwaves which is called Phase Blast. But, she has the power to teleport items or even people if she had eridian to do it.

Then Maya, when she has this thing called Phase Lock. Basically, it suspend foes in another dimension, which sounds awesome. Not sure how it feels though. Disorientating?

Commander Steele, Cat never met. But she did know that she died somehow. So that was neat. Angel too was one, but also dead.

So there were currently three sirens none, including Cat. There can only be six Sirens in existence at a time. So far, only Lilith, Maya, and Cat are known. The blue tattoos are a side-effect of being a Siren. The tattoos of all known and suspected Sirens, however, only appear on one half of the body. Seemingly, they channel their powers through the arm that possess the tattoos. The tattoos cover from foot to scalp, so it was a struggle to hiding it.

Cat had learned that Sirens thrive on Eridium ore, a mineral that became abundant on Pandora after a Vault was opened. There are theories of how Sirens, Vaults, and the Eridians are all connected, and all. But Siren powers are enhanced through the use of Eridium. It can heal a Siren, enhance a power, and in general make them more badass. However, Eridium is also a sort of drug for Sirens. Overconsumption of the material will have negative side effects to the user. An overdose, if you will. It happened to Angel. She was being fed an enormous amount over a long period of time and eventually required a constant feed in order to maintain her life function. She sadly died after her Eridium supply was cut off. Jack was never the same after that.

It was sad for Angel to have died. Even though her and Jack never had a good connection, it was still father and daughter. And Angel wasn't even 15 when she passed. Thanks to Vault Hunters, they helped her kill herself since she wasn't happy being a power source for Jack. Cat understand why, since she could be in the same position. However, Jack wasn't the same after. And then soon after, he tried killing those Vault Hunters, he died as well.

Cat hated those Vault Hunters.

There were theories, mentioned earlier, about how Sirens, the Vaults, and the Eridians. The Eridians are an ancient alien race of unknown origin. Spooky, right? And also stupid, yet real. Aliens, right? Crazy. Anyway, their vastly superior technology, unlike anything humans have ever seen, allowed them to create the things called Vault and other marvels, including their awesome weapons and relics that are scattered around Pandora and other planets.

Little is known about the Eridians, although their importance is high. They have advanced technology, created freaking Vaults that hold monsters called Guardians to protect those Vaults. But it has been determined that their entire civilization has been destroyed at some point after the creation of the Vaults.

Thanks to these Eridians, the company Atlas was the most powerful corporation in human space, as they were the first to discover and reverse-engineer the alien technology. Their find triggered the 'gold rush' of corporations to planets like Pandora. Thanks to the finding of them, it advanced human technology overnight, with guns that require no ammunition. Freakin awesome.

But with Atlas being the top, it was soon killed by Handsome Jack himself. Every employee was dead. Gone. Plus, a Vault Hunter wanted to kill all of them too, so.

The eridium advances Sirens powers, but alone Sirens are still powerful. However, it depends on the Siren themselves, and how much they've trained with the powers. Cat used it all the time down on Pandora as a child, and an adult. But when she got to Hyperion, she never used it. Not once, for the fear of being caught.

Sirens not only had their own unique powers, but also have wings made of energy. It mainly is used to travel across the galaxy, to roam the stars and use the currents of the solar wind, so she can naturally find Vaults and artifacts. Yeah. Big cool thing. Also terrifying.

It was one of the many reasons why she wanted a window view of space. She had a natural pull towards space. How limitless it was and how it float to just float around in it. Amazing. Sirens had these wings that could appear, made of complete energy. The feeling of space was simply amazing, how the stardust felt against her face, or the coldness of no sun or the heat of the sun. It was confusing, as a normal person would freeze to death in seconds or burn to death in seconds, but a Siren could control their temperature and survive temperatures a normal human couldn't. They even have better hearing than humans, since sound doesn't travel through space yet Sirens can hear miles away. Sirens can smell things miles away, a curse and a burden. A Siren could see better than any human eye. Well, maybe that was just Cat. She wasn't sure if other Sirens had the same affects as her.

Cat liked her powers, even though sometimes she hated it. Hearing, it was good. Although, if someone secretly passed gas in a meeting, not only can she hear it, but also smell it. Terrible. But also funny. But when someone yelled, Cat could strangle someone. Her eyes weren't advanced as a Siren. Better than a normal human eye, however, after the blast it had negative effects to her eyes. She could still see, but one eye was really bad. Meanwhile the other was not good at reading things close, so she needed glasses. Not that she was complaining. There were other affects of being a Siren as well. Heck, there were even taste buds. Cat loved all kinds of food. Though, she wasn't sure if it was because of being a Siren or she was just born like that. However, she was very picky with her coffee.

Being able to breath in space was also an advantage of a Siren. With the wings, and powers, it was pretty fun flying in space. Although, she never did it but once. And it wasn't her choice, either. Earlier, how it was mentioned that she was thrown out an airlock. And that she held onto something as she pulled the other guy out. Well, she wasn't able to grab onto something, and actually was thrown into space. Before, he was lured near an airlock by some other engineer, called Zack, er something. But, he pushed Cat against it and pressed the button. However, the douche didn't expect her to grab him and take him down with her. They were both floating in space. She would never forget how he died. His blue eyes popping out, his veins popping out his neck and forehead. His skin turning from tan to blue, frost appearing over his skin. His life was fading from him.

However, Cat was simply holding her breath, unsure of what to do. Now she knew what it felt like when Jack threw someone out an airlock. Absolutely terrifying. Yet, it felt like nothing. Felt like being inside a spaceship with zero gravity. Just… floating. It was calm. Quiet. Other than the man's final breathes leaving him. Uncomforting, but relieving knowing that he wouldn't be able to kill her again. Why did he even want to kill her? Wait, she remembered. He was mad she got a promotion. They were like Rhys and Vasquez, competitors. They were both trying to get the same position in advanced engineering class, and well, she kinda got an even better promotion of being the Main Engineer of Hyperion and Handsome Jack's Personal Engineer. He wasn't happy, and wanted to kill her. He failed, blah blah blah. Now he's dead. Other than the dead who was floating away from her, she never felt better. Her first breath in space, or, no breath. She wasn't sure how she was breathing. Maybe she had this extra amount of breathing storage in her lungs? Maybe? She didn't know. All she knew, was that she was alive in space.

Of course, she was floating further away from the airlock, and she had to quickly make her way back inside. Not before she flew around in circles for a bit, making loops and curves. She flew better in space. On land, where gravity was heavy, it was struggling. She is able to fly, just not for long. Maybe a couple minutes. However, just a few seconds all her energy could be gone. Some eridium could help, though. But, she made her way back to the airlock and closed it, leaving that Zach dick to float in space for the rest of his time till he slowly withered away.

Whoa… Morbid.

Cat enjoyed that moment, flying around a stuff. She just felt so free, unstopable. It was fantastic.

Each Siren has there own sort of color. Each one of course having blue tattoos, but using powers, it was their own color. Even their wings! Maya was bluish, Lilith was red, Angel was white, Commander Steele she didn't know. And Cat was purpleish pink. She liked her color. Suited what she wore.

Cat rubbed her hand, running circles around it. There was so much questions she had for a Siren. So many things were not understood about being a Siren. So many mysteries behind, ones only an Eridian could answer. There were so many questions for Eridan's as well. One of which lingered is if they were still alive. If some were, hiding, or maybe lost, or captured. Just maybe, she could find them. Learn from them. There was a connection to Sirens and them, so they must have answers. Maybe finding a Vault could help. Getting that Vault Key would help so much.

No one knew she was a Siren. Well, Jack found out when he was going through some videos, and saw her flying around the airlock outside of Helios. But, she didn't see him after he found out. He was down on Pandora. Cat didn't believe him when he called him, because she was sure that the video evidence was destroyed. But, he wanted to talk once he got back. But then, that was when he died. It shattered her heart just to think about it.

But she moved on. Over time, yes. Still sour, yes. But moved on.

Benedict, too, found out. When Cat got in the explosion when she lost her arm, he had to perform surgery on her. And once he saw the tattoos, he ordered everyone out the room for him to work on his own. The video evidence inside the hospital room was gone, and he knew. And kept her secret.

It was scary. Any second someone could come in and take her away, to do experiments or something worse because he opened his mouth. But he never said a word. Cat pondered on the thought of telling her other friends, but decided against it. What if they told someone, what if they couldn't keep the secret? It was just too risky. So she kept it hidden.

Cat pulled her shirt off, struggling as she trying pulling it over her robot arm as it got caught. The arm was annoying at points. She placed the arm where she placed her jacket, and now she wore a black tank top, showing her arm covered in tattoos.

Being a Siren while climbing the Hyperion ladder wasn't fun. The amount of cunning assholes and their dimwitted minions, who would capture and use your powers for their own good was just too high on Helios. Cat didn't like the idea of being locked somewhere for research purposes, or as an extraordinary form of energy source to power some dickweed's ECHOdevice. Yeah, working at Hyperion was a struggle. She wanted to make her own path, walk down her own road. Get to the top of Hyperion, show the other's what she's capable of. Hiding her Siren self, turning her side she jumped headfirst into the world of paperwork, meetings, bureaucracy and inventions. She couldn't say she was expecting all the backstabbing, frauds, air locking and hatred throughout the corporation, but she was no pansy. She was tough, quick to learn, sharp on the tongue, knew which parts of herself she had to hide and which to show to get what she wanted. Hyperion was a game, and she did not intend to lose. She wanted everything Hyperion had to offer. Absolutely everything. But she looked to the door, just seeing her friends all at the couch, playing and laughing and screwing around. She felt her heart swelling. She knew she was more than willing to share.

Cat glared at her own two hands. What could she even call them. Machine or Monster. Hah, M&M. Get it? Cause… machine and monster… M&M… Whoo, jokes.

Slowly clenching and unclenching the air, staring at her palms, she watched the blue tattoos dilate with a glowing purple and then back to nothing. And then the mechanical hand, hearing it's servos and joints turning and wiring. She was at herself. She didn't know how to see herself. A cybernetic woman, or a mystic creature. But she just wanted to be human. Before that day when she lost her arm and a part of her leg, she used to compare her human side and powerful side. Now, just mechanical or creature. What can she call herself? Some sort of Siren Cybor? A Monster? A Lab Rat? She didn't know.

Each side did give her a boost. Her mechanical helped with work, was strong, also cool hologram thing coming out of her hand. Plus it looked cool. Even her robotic eye was cool! It scans stuff, and she can easily text in boring meetings. Although, she stopped that once she didn't learn anything and had to ask for a paper copy of the entire meeting. Whoops.

Then her Siren side was also strong, and faster. Powerful. She'd be able to mess with people. She sometimes would use her magical abilities and push shit off someone's table. They would pick it up, place it down, sit down again. She'd push it off again. They pick it up, place down, sit down. She pushes it off again. They lose their mind. Fun.

Hiding her skin was not easy. Slightly. Just wear pants, long sleeves, socks, shoes. All good. Made sense, since the place was freezing. But, her tattoos grow. Like, literally grow. Sometimes it stops for a few months, and then it grows like a couple inches somewhere out of the blue. As a baby, there was barely any, but over time. Whoo boy. Annoying as hell. It began to grow up to her collar bone a couple days ago. It stopped, as she glanced down. It wouldn't show over the collar of her shirt. She was good for now. But, it began to grow onto her hands once she got to Hyperion those 7 years ago. She had to start wearing gloves all the time.

If she didn't, well someone would see. Maybe they'll think it was just a tattoo she got. Maybe. But she wasn't entirely keen on letting her secret be known to all of Hyperion. She took extra precautions to prevent this such event from happening. She always wore long sleeve shirts when he was anywhere. Public, in her office, at home. But her friends would question, and her only excuse was that she got some gnarly scars on Pandora that she would like to keep to herself. She did have a few, so she wasn't really _lying_.

An issue with her tattoos, however, is that they are somehow connected to her emotions. Meaning that her tattoos responded to her emotional state sensitively, the most notable accounts were the ones that were caused by her extreme emotions, increased heartrate, injury, brain waves, and so on. It wasn't that much of a problem for Cat. She could easily keep her emotions in check, prevent herself from feeling anything too extreme, and keep her heart rate down. But she gets headaches all the time, and it aggravates her tattoos. Which makes them glow. Which was annoying. They didn't glow much, though. So she didn't really have to worry.

But the emotions, oh boy. Yeah, she could control simple emotions, but when she got mad, she got mad. She decided taking anger management would be a good idea, and has been attending for years. But she had other emotions to worry about. Such as when she got fluster. Being Jack's personal engineer was fun, yet annoying. Jack would joke and be an asshole and flirt nonchalantly with Cat, toy with his emotions. Then there were other times where he would prank her. Such as one time he had demoted her. It was a day later when she got her job back. She was so pissed. Then there were times where Jack was an asshole, then was hyper, then would scare her, and so many other things that ticked her off.

There was even her friends that ticked her off. Alex, for example. He would like to tease Cat. Make her want to fight him. They would have duels and see who would win. He had strength, but she had smarts. Plus, with her two sides she was also strong. Even though Alex was like 99% ripped, 1% annoying. Then Iliana, who would make Cat laugh her head off with jokes. Like, literally rolling on the floor and dying. Then Benedict, who would annoy her with every little comment he had to say. _That isn't safe. That's not healthy. You should organize this. You should do that. Blah blah blah, I'm Benedict, everything has to be perfect! PEACHY!_ Then Rhys, to how clumsy he is and would always trip on Phillip. Or maybe Phillip just liked to trip Rhys on purpose. That could sadly be a thing Cat could not blame him for. Then Vaughn, who makes sure everything is doing something not illegal. Or just being a parent. Then Yvette, who liked to rely on others more than herself. And so many other things she could complain about her friends she was gaining a headache.

Yet she loved them.

Yeah, they have their flaws, but everyone does. Cat does. And that's why she loved them. They cared for one another, they weren't assholes. It was nice to actually have people she could call friends.

Cat clenched her fist, seeing the glow effect on her arms as it coursed throughout her tattoos. She could hear her mechanic arm servos turning inside it's little machinery work. Although she wasn't human, those little things she always found a fondness for.

Cat reached for the port of her arm, feeling her shoulder for the clips of metal. She had to take her arm off, since it was only completely waterproof. Which was stupid. But she was currently working on getting a better arm. The arm could handle some rain, but not completely drenched in water. Not only would it short-circuit the arm, but also possibly kill her. So yeah.

Hearing three quiet satisfying clicks, and a hiss from the arm, a part of the arm came off. It was more of a metal cover for it, so the wires connecting to the skin were safe. She placed the grey plating on the counter, as she looked down at the arm. She was able to pull the arm away from the port, but the wires were still attached. There were many buttons and glowing lights inside of her arm port. She pulled her arm away, tilting her head in an aching angle as she looked. She reached a hand inside the small opening, as she placed her robot arm on her lap. She felt around, feeling the warm heat of machinery inside. She pondered for a bit, till she felt a few clicks, and the robot arm became lifeless. It always felt unsettling. She could feel her robot arm. Touch things, feel things with it. But when she shuts it down, it's all the sudden gone. No connection to the brain to indicate she was feeling something. Just… gone.

Cat pressed a few more buttons, having bits of machine unhooking and unjoining to where the arm was completely off, except for the few wires connecting. They were all grey, and kinda big. Cat grabbed the five grey wires, pulling each one out at a time with gentle care. There were soft pops from each one, till the arm suddenly fell. She quickly caught it was her single hand.

She gripped the wrist of the robotic arm, lifting it slowly onto the table. Even though it was built to take a pounding, she was still so gentle with it. She always felt like it could just suddenly fall apart any second, and it was worrying.

Once she placed it down, she gentle rubbed the metal port on the side, where her metal arm used to be. She kept the port on, since it was waterproof, yet it didn't have much machinery on it. It was more challenging to take that off than the arm. So she kept it on. Most of the time. She'd usually sleep with it on, so it'll only take a minute or so to put the arm back on. Simple and easy. But not only that, but she never liked the feeling of just the empty space there. Just skin. There wasn't even a stub, all the arm was gone. Just her shoulder was there. That was it. And just looking at it was a nightmare flooding with memories.

Cat sighed. She needed to get ready. She scoffed.

She was ready for a home trip.

"The car's ready to leave." Rhys hummed in delight, his energetic expression appearing, as his face appeared on Cat's computer. She was sitting at her desk, inside her brightly lit room. She had her black tank top on, with a yellow blanket over most of her, hiding her Siren parts, with her hair all dried and in a ponytail. She was currently getting ready, till Rhys called her. However, her arm wasn't attached, so she had to move to the computer.

Phillip was lying on the desk, relaxing peacefully as he listened to Rhys. Cat wasn't sure if Phillip could understand human language, since he had an A.I. programming of a dog. But he knew the common knowledge of a dog, like going outside, playing fetch, speak, etc. It will always be a mystery to her.

Cat was at the moment trying to reconnect her robotic arm back into the port, mumbling a few incoherent things every now and then. After awhile it just begins to be a pet peeve, having to take it off and on every day. But Rhys could relate, since he had one as well.

"Sounds good. I'm just about ready." Cat said, clicking the three flips on her robotic arm, it sounding like a light switch being flipped. There was soon a hissing noise as parts on the inside began to resemble itself.

"Vaughn has the money, and we're leaving our apartment in a bit. We'll meet you down in 5." Rhys said, inside his blue room with pictures, and the occasional Handsome Jack posters. He would never admit it, but Rhys was a huge fan of the guy. However, about everyone on Helios was.

"Sounds like a plan." Cat said, once testing out her arm, pulling it in front of her, moving the fingers and all it's joints, making sure all the systems were working. Once she was happy with the outcome, she turned her head towards Rhys, slightly shifting in her seat, her back even more straighter than before. "You could have just send me a message." She didn't really understand why she needed to be informed verbally. She knew the plan, and she could follow through the steps, but she didn't need an audio tutorial on it.

"Yeah, right. I just, wanted to talk to you. About something." Rhys mumbled hesitantly, rubbing the back of his head after he brushed a hand through his brown hair.

Cat raised a brow, unsure of what he could be talking about. But she had a feeling it was something serious. Like bad serious. Maybe something happened, maybe things aren't going as planned. Maybe one of them can't come. Maybe it was something emotional. Cat couldn't deal with that right now, as she rubbed her Siren hand.

Rhys could be reconsidering the plan, maybe not going through it. It would be understandable, being Pandora and all. But his tone was so worried some. Maybe he was scared. Maybe he wanted some advice. Cat wasn't really the type would go to for advice, or so she thought. Just the feeling of Rhys being scared made her feel scared. She could feel her cold skin have goosebumps sudden grow on her.

"Shoot." Cat said, after realizing she was just staring blankly at the screen for a few moments of silence, now feeling embarrassed.

"I just, wanted to know… If you were doing alright. You've been acting weirdly, lately." Rhys began slowly, placing his words correctly.

"Oh, I'm fine." Cat said simply. She didn't want to get emotional, she couldn't. Maybe her skin would turn all purple and she'd look like grape juice.

"You sure? You can talk to me, you know. And Vaughn, and Yvette, and Benedict, and all the others." Rhys said, a worried expression on him as he frowned.

"Rhys, I'm fine." Cat laughed. "Seriously, I am actually… kinda looking forward to this." Cat said, looking down at the ground with a smile, more to herself. Till she looked back at Rhys. "I haven't been to Pandora in so long, it's kinda nice to think about seeing it again."

"Well. If you're happy, I'm happy." Rhys smiled. Cat always liked the protective nature of Rhys. She felt protected when he asked if she was alright. It was a nice feeling. After years on Pandora alone for such a long time, Cat clinged onto feelings like that. "So. You almost ready? Vaughn's taking a pee right now, so…" He mumbled, trying to make small talk. Guess it was kinda awkward.

"Yeah, yeah, uh. Just, trying to finish up with the arm and some things I need. Before I leave, I want to check up on Iliana and see if she's ready to hack into servanicallance with her ID." Cat said, grabbing her leather bag, seeing it was empty. _What to bring?_

"Okay, well don't bring an army in your bag. We're just going to be there for a bit." Rhys said.

"I know, I won't." Cat said.

"Well, I'm going to go leave now so you can do what you need to do." Rhys said.

"See ya." Cat said, looking back at the screen, placing a hand on the mouse to end the call.

"Cat." Rhys said.

She stopped, and looked at Rhys.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm right here." Rhys said.

Cat pondered at that, frowning at her desk. She was happy Rhys cared for her, and yet at points she hated it. She wanted to tell him so badly, she really did. She wanted to tell him she was a Siren, but what would happen. Would he see her the same way? Would he tell the others? Would he tell _other_ people? She didn't know. It was too risky.

She looked back up at Rhys. "I know." She said, and ended the call. She couldn't handle talking anymore. She didn't _want_ to talk anymore.

She couldn't admit being excited for Pandora. She was more scared than excited. Which isn't saying much, but she's still worried as hell. If it's as emotional as she thinks it'll be, she has no hope in stopping her powers from showing.

Worrying won't help, she thought. She needed to think positive. It is going to go well. They are going to Pandora, they are going to get a Vault Key, and they are going to run the place. And a side reward of beating Vasquez, too. But there was still a part of her thinking it was going to be more complex.

She shook her head, trying to clear it. She was getting annoyed at herself. She is going to Pandora, she is going to get a Vault Key, and she is going to have a fun time. She didn't care, that was her plan.

Moving the seat before her, she sat up, placing the leather bag on the desk. What did she need? Right, planning the trip.

The shield was already picked out, having a 110% capacity. Nothing mega, basically what you would 'noob' like. But they weren't going to get into any fights. Hopefully.

Then there was her pistol, having all the ammo it needed. As well as a long silver dagger that she'll holster with her pistol. Cat always held a fondness for swords play.

Some water would be good. She had a canteen with water inside. Plus some food. She had little snacks. Then her wallet, in case she needed to buy some bullets or insta-heals. Even though she hated the damn things, with the needles and just agh. Maybe a first aid kit. Wait, Benedict already has that.

Gosh, she sounds like a grandma. She smacked herself in the face, getting sick of pondering. They weren't going to be gone long, and yet Cat seemed to be planning a camping trip. She wanted to hit herself in the face.

Okay, water, food, gun, knife, ammo, med kit, rope, cell phone… that's about it. Alright, she had most of her stuff in the bag aside from the gun and knife.

Cat went quickly with her outfit. She was wearing the same thing as earlier, but decided to add big brown gloves, with silver slits of metal at the wrist to make sure they don't fall off. She didn't want her hands to be glowing again. Her teal tie was also out from the vest, all loose and all. Then she had a small brown bag wrapped around her left leg by a strap from the brown belt and one going around her thigh, it containing ammo. Then she had black heeled boots, with metal plates at the knees. There were two metal slits on the outside part on each boot, fashion choice. There was a line going down the middle, where the martial ended at the ankle, it starting a new bottom. The boots could be detached. There were silver circles on the side of the ankles, as a silver line went from the middle of the foot to almost where the toes ended. Cat thought it would be a good idea to walk in something comfortable, but also stylish, since she wanted to look like a badass when her and her friends got the Vault Key.

Opening the door to her room, she exited it, walked down the short hallway, and knocked on her friend's door. Cat was ready to leave, but wanted to check and see if Iliana was able to tamper with the videos down the path they were going and in the Loading Docks.

"It's open!" Iliana called from the other side. With that, Cat opened the door, and walked in.

She was surprised to see Iliana hunched over in her chair, her feet on it as her knees were in her chest, as her arms extended to the keyboard of her computer. How was that comfortable, Cat will never know.

Iliana was staring at the screen, as if it had somehow offended her. She was tapping away at the keyboard, mumbling to herself every now and then, the screen with a black background with blue letters and numbers flying around.

There was a sense in the air. A sense of anger, and Cat could smell it. Iliana, even though a kind and friendly person, had some anger issues. Her outburst were usually funny and over the little things, same as Cat, yet Cat can handle herself. Iliana, on the other hand, once broke her computer.

"So." Cat dragged. "How's it going?"

"Almost…" Iliana started, the word slowly dying out as she held it for a few seconds. Silence filled the room, and Cat shifted at the door uncomfortably.

"Done." Iliana declared, grinning as she smiled back, letting her legs fall to the ground under the desk. She then leaned forwards, arking over the desk, staring at the screen. The screen was filled with several pictures of different lotions. Iliana had access to the cameras. Good.

"Great job, Iliana." Cat said, grinning as she walked over to Iliana's desk.

"I know." Iliana grinned a smug grin.

"So now that you have access to the cameras, I'm sure after we're done going through to the Loading Bay, you can tamper it and edit it to where our faces were never on it. Am I right?" Cat asked, placing her robotic hand on the desk as she was at Iliana's left side. Cat leaned towards the screen, watching all the activity going on the cameras, each one being swiped with another one as Iliana glided through them.

"You are correct." Iliana smirked. "May take some time, though. I'm not sure how long, but I'll get it to work."

"Great." Cat smiled, adjusted her glasses as she lifted herself some the desk.

"So, you heading out now?" Iliana asked, turning her chair to face Cat.

"Yep. And I have to say, I'm kinda excited. Which is kinda odd, since we're going to Pandora and all. But, I can't stop myself from feeling… energetic." Cat said.

Iliana raised a brow with a grin. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"Yep." Cat laughed, heading towards the door.

"Hey. You already leaving?" Iliana said.

"Yep." Cat said, looking at her, as she held the door knob.

"Stay safe on Pandora, alright. And make sure the boys don't get hurt, either." Iliana said.

"I always will, Iliana." Cat grinned, leaving the room, closing the door.

She got this.

Oh, she could feel the goosebumps rise in her out of excitement. It was amazing! She was going to Pandora. Freaking Pandora! She didn't know why she was happy about it. If she had to say she missed something, it was the thrill. The adrenaline rush. And how much she wished they wouldn't get into trouble, a part of her wished it. And she hated it.

Grabbing the leather bag, she threw it over her torso. Okay, she was good. She had her stuff. She put on her brown shoulder holster, under the left pit was her pistol, and the right was the long dagger. She was set.

 _Cat:_

 _I'm on my way down._

 _Rhys:_

 _Meet you on the way._

Cat smiled closed the door, making sure her grey hexagon shaped shield was attached on her belt. As well as the metal grey box, it being her inventory. The Inventory was this type of backpack, holding simpic supplies. Many travellers used it, since the objects could disappear and reappear. But it depends on what kind you use. Her's could hold up to 15 items, of shields, guns, skin packs, etc. She had it in case they might collect some things, since about anything on Pandora cost money.

She was all set. She was ready to leave. Till she heard many little taps of feet. She glanced down, seeing Phillip at her feet, his tail wagging.

Now she felt bad for leaving.

"Hey, buddy." Cat smiled, kneeling down to Phillip's level. He simply reacted by jumping on her, which almost caused her to loose balance. Her back arched back as Phillip practically jumped on her. She laughed.

"Okay, okay, keep the cool down for me." She said, grabbing Phillip gently and placing him on the ground. His feet tapped impatiently and he shifted, ready to jump and play. "I'm sorry, boy. I have to go." With that, he suddenly stopped, as if the world crashed on him. Cat loved that robot, but damn it whenever he got said his little metal flip above his eye would go down and make him look so sad and cute. Heck, he even shrunk down a bit as his tail stopped wagging. Cat's heart sank.

"Hey, hey, hey, I promise I'll be back soon." Cat said, pointing her index at him to empathize. With that, Phillip began wagging his tail as he stood up straight with joy, looking up at her gleefully.

Cat smiled at him, patting his head. "Okay, I leave now. But I promise I'll be back in a jiffy. Alright?" Cat said, and Phillip nodded. "Alright, see you later buddy."Cat said, now standing up. She slowly backed away from the door, closing it behind her.

She was gonna hang out with him once she got back, she was sure. But a pinch of guilty couldn't stop creeping up her spine when she saw the sad look on Phillip's face. It almost made her not want to go to Pandora. But if a Vault Key waited at the end of the road, she was going for it.

It was time to leave. Cat scoffed as she left her apartment. She still couldn't grasp the thought that they were heading to Pandora. And their little plan might actually work. Plus, with the power they all could gain on Helios with just touching the Vault Key. They would be unstoppable. That day was going to change their lives. Forever.

It was so nerve-racking. Getting a Vault Key would change everything. If they found a Vault with that thing, they would be rich. Millionaires, even. And with the power of the Vault Key at their tips, they would be like a god. Maybe with it they all could be a group of CEOs of Hyperion. Which is kinda a stretch, but if you think about it. The power of that Vault Key, how much riches it'll bring to Hyperion. Hyperion would be begging them to take office.

That day was going to be a good. It was going to be an awesome day.

Time to head to Pandora.

"Pandora, here we come!" Rhys yelled happily as the three of them walked down the corridor.

"Shut up!" Cat yelled, slapping Rhys on the shoulder forcefully with her robotic hand.

"Ow ow ow wow. What the hell?" Rhys growled, glaring down at Cat as he cradles his shoulder.

Cat them simply smacked the back of his head. "Idiot." She scowled. Although, it was fun to hit Rhys and have him whine about it. "Might as well yell to the world that we're heading down to Pandora."

Cat received a snicker from Vaughn, and she smirked. Rhys simply glared at the two of them as he looked down the path they were walking on.

"I see nobody around." Rhys muttered.

"Oh, so now you can see through walls and doors." Cat sarcastically replied.

"Why you gotta be rude?" Rhys whined, shaking his head side to side on each word to emphasise what he was saying.

"Because you are a dickweeb-" Cat started.

"Okay!" Vaughn clasped his hands together, full of energy in hopes of stopping their argument, with a big smile plastered on his face. "How about we focus on the trip and getting that V-"

"Bob." Both Cat and Rhys corrected, looking at Vaughn.

Vaughn just stared at him, raising a brow as he slowly turned his head, half his mouth open as if he looked disgusted and confused. "Getting the Bob…" He hesitated.

"Right." Rhys agreed.

The three of them had began to head to the loading bay. Everything was all set. Yvette had given them clearance for take off, Iliana was working on getting rid of the video evidence of their take off on the CCTV Surveillance, Benedict was setting up medical supply drops at the ready if things went bad, and they just needed to head to the car. Everything was going as planned.

Rhys had set up the vehicle they were going to use, not telling them to make it a more dramatic entrance. He said it was going to be good, so who knows what it'll be.

Cat couldn't help but feel nervous. She tried to stay calm but, but the nerves picking at herself was just eating her up. She could feel her stomach doing flips, she could feel her limbs aching for movement, she could feel anxiety overcoming her. She was going to visit home. Her home planet. That she travelled all over, one that she killed on almost everyday in defense. A planet that she'll never see as home. She felt her spine become rigid as they walked closer and closer to the loading bay. Her Siren arm just tingling under her clothing.

She decided that it would be a good idea to still look formal, yet Pandorian like. After all, it was a meeting with Pandorian folk, she might as well look the part. So formal yet bandit like was best suit. And to be honest, she felt kinda badass. Which was the point.

"Whoa. Dude. You are like, mega crazy right now." Vaughn said, now nothing Cat's outfit.

She simply smiled. "Pandora's crazy. I am prepared for that crazy." She then finally looked at the two of them. She never noticed to how they looked the exact same as before! Her expression from a joyful smile to a shocked face. "Why are you wearing the same thing?" She almost yelled.

"What?" Rhys asked, raising a brow and smirk. "Sorry, but we didn't want to play dress up."

Vaughn snickered.

"Uh, last time I checked, Pandora hates Hyperion." Cat snarled, pointing at the Hyperion logos on their vest. They both looked at their own clothing, now realising the issue.

Rhys looked up with a sheepish smile, trying to look confident but failing miserably. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"Oh, yeah. It'll be fine. Bandits will just welcome us with open arms!" Vaughn said, shrugging his arms.

Brilliant. Even though the two of them were smart, they were still stupid at points.

"Oh, it'll be fine. Everything will go out smoothly. And soon enough, we'll have a Vault Key." Rhys said, smiling with a coy smile.

"A Bob." Both Cat and Vaughn said.

"Right…"

The three of them walked to the end of the corridor, it feeling like ages. Maybe it was because of the heavy bag around her shoulder. Why was it so heavy? She was sure she packed everything she needed, but it all added up couldn't have weighed that much. Maybe she just needed more exercise.

The steel doors whooshed open, the sound satisfying, as the three of them walked through. The little clicks of each of their shoes walking down the loading bay. They just needed some epic music and they would be good.

The Loading Bay was massive. There was literally an enormous hole in the wall. No, scratch that. There was no wall, showing the planet of Pandora. It, of course, had a shield. If not, everyone would be dead in the room. Well, beside Cat. But, it was massive. There were ledges everywhere, with ships docking and leaving. Passengers were leaving and entering. Possibly for meetings, leaving work, or heading to work. Everyone looked like they needed somewhere to be. With their fancy clothing and personal items that looked like vacation bags. There were crates and workers and Loaders Bots everywhere, moving things and just working. The ships were in so many shapes and sizes, each one popping out. It made Cat wonder which one was theirs.

Cat looked over at the space showing Pandora. Cat stood there as Rhys and Vaughn chatted. Cat was so calm when she looked at space. A calm smile spread on her face. Space was awesome. How limitless it was and how it felt to float through it. Oh how she wanted to just fly right there and then. The massive room seemed to make her feel so small and it unnerved her. Yet there was little room as the Loading Bay was flooding with people. She felt so small, so closed up. She just wanted to spread her wings, and fly into every little spot she could.

Cat walked over to the edge, where stairs were at each side, meanwhile the center had railings, a place to stop and look at the mass of the room. And the mass of space. It was truly amazing to how big it was. Almost insane.

"What are you smiling at?" Rhys suddenly said, nudging her arm. Cat simply jumped, spastic as her glasses almost fell off.

"Ah, what-? What now? Oh, a-ah, nothing. Nothing at all. Just… lost in thought. Thinking, yeah, thinking." Cat sputtered, seeing to how Vaughn and Rhys were staring at Cat with a smirk and raised brow. She swore they were like god damned twins or something.

"Thinking about…" Rhys asked, lifting his last word for Cat to understand as both his brows were raised. Cat felt stupid. To how Rhys was acting like she was a 2 year that needed to fill in the blank.

"...Space…" Cat muttered. "It just, calms me down. I am heading back home for a bit, after all." She chuckled, her shoulders jumping up and down as she awkwardly laughed, giving a sheepish smile.

Rhys and Vaughn just looked more concerned now. Cat knew they thought there was more than that, but they ponder on it. They simply nodded, both looking back as they watched the ships come and go.

Cat looked at them. Rhys, very tall and slim was standing patiently with a smug grin plastered on his face. So confident. Vaughn, not so much. He was shifting on his feet nervously, looking around frantically. Waiting was the worst. Cat glanced at the grey Hyperion briefcase filled with the 'borrowed' money that was handcuffed to his wrist. Just in case something were to happen. Holding 10 million dollars was practically a death wish on Pandora.

Cat wasn't sure what to feel. Excited, or worried. She was going to see home. After 7 years. 7 years of being away from that shit hole, she was going back. She felt a sort of relief float off of her, yet a new one came in. It was disorienting. It made her feel light headed as she over thought it. But she couldn't back out. She was going to Pandora.

She could feel a presence slowly shift to her right side. She looked to her right, seeing Rhys right next to her, his eyes facing the Loading Docks before them "You know, that offer I said on the phone call still stands. You can talk to me." He said, his expression worried some as he looked down at her.

"I'm fine. Just… Pandora… Whoo." She gave a sheepish smile, looking back at the Loading Bay as she shrugged.

"Yeah, it's crazy. But, if anyone can push through it, it's you." Rhys smiled, and Cat smiled back. She never understood how he was so good at words. He could be the boss at giving motivational speeches, or something. But what he said did make her feel a bit lighter and less tensed.

"So which ride is ours?" Vaughn asked out of the blue as he walked over, looking around, hoping to find any sort of clue. That question was nagging at Cat for ages.

"You'll see." Rhys simply said. Vaughn only looked up at him and glared.

All they knew was that since it was a car, they were going to air shot. Kinda like Moon Shot, but just being shot inside a supply box. Pand smoothly on the ground and everything would be all good. Hopefully. She never was in one, so she didn't know what would happen.

"Over there." Rhys pointed his medal index, with both Cats and Vaughn's eyes following where it was leading. He was pointing at a big metal door, with Hyperion paint of two stripes over it. There were many doors on the ways, and stairs downwards leading to more doors. Each one must hold an air shot or more ships loading in. "That one is ours." Rhys leaved over the railing, trying to get a better view.

There was so many ships flying in and out, so many doors opening and closing, and so many people and chatting. It was giving Cat a headache.

But ohhhhhh, it was going to be awesome. The car waiting for them must be a sick ride. If you're going to steal something, you might as well do it in style.

"Is it bad that I almost feel racist?" Vaughn said out of nowhere. And it was received with raised brows.

"Uh, why?" Cat asked.

"Well, all our different raced friends are staying on Helios, meanwhile we are going to Pandora." Vaughn said slowly. And oh my God he was right.

Both Rhys and Cat were silent. "Okay, we are not racist." Cat started.

"We all just have different skill sets… yeah." Rhys said.

"Yes, and we all need to do them… and conveniently, all our white friends are going on Pandora…" Cat said.

"Should we shut up?" Vaughn asked.

"We should shut up." Rhys said.

"Yep." Cat said.

They all were leaving the railing to go down the many metal stairs. Walking over shouldn't have been half annoying as it was. People can't watch where they're going. People bumped into Cat several times, and it was tempting to flip someone off, but they had a mission to do. Not start a fist fight.

Once to the door, the metal doors whooshing open once Rhys held up his ID Card for a scan. Yvette must have made sure it would open for Rhys.

When the doors opened, the three walked in. Cat and Vaughn both had O shaped mouths as they saw the car. Rhys simply smirked.

Vaughn whistled when he ran up to the car, feeling it's sides.

"Vasquez clearly has a good taste in cars." Cat said, slowly stroking the side of the black car. It had yellow bits on it, with the front having grey streaks, the engine clearly behind it. The top of it had a little Helios golden statue, so cute. The windows were a tint black, as the plate on the back said VA5QU3Z. Cat felt the Sedan body car, feeling how smooth it was. Ohhhh, the best part about it was that it was Vasquez. He was going to be so pissed. Cat loved it. "You're sick." She smiled.

"I know." Rhys grinned, placing his hands on his waist, looking at the car proudly.

"When I think of what could happen to this baby down on Pandora, it almost makes me want to protect it with all I live for. Almost." Vaughn smiled, heading over for the shotgun seat. Rhys was decided to be the one driving, but no furrow arrangements were thought of.

"Hey, what the hell?" Cat said.

"What?" Vaughn asked, stopping his hand from continuing to reach for the door.

"I want shotgun." Cat said. Or, more like stated factly.

"I want shotgun." Vaughn said, furrowing his brows. Oh. It was on.

"I should get shotgun." Cat said.

"And why is that?" Vaughn raised a brow, folding his arms over his chest, the case over his stomach.

"Because, I'm taller. Smaller people in back." Cat said, smirking once she saw the angered face on Vaughn.

"Yeah, but I got here first. First come first serve." Vaughn stated.

"Yeah, but where's your baby seat?" Cat said, making fun of Vaughn's height.

Vaughn's expression was an offended one, almost comical. "That was very rude." He stated, placing a hand on his chest. "You-"

"Oh my God, just get in the car." Rhys groaned, opening up the driver seat, and sitting down inside. He slammed the door shut, fasten his seat belt in the same.

"Aren't we supposed to meet Benedict here?" Cat asked, confusion in her voice.

Vaughn had opened up the shotgun seat that was oh so rightfully her's, but she didn't bother to comment. Rhys then rolled down his window, and Cat was gonna admit. It looked kinda slick.

"Yeah, we are. But if he's late, we're leaving. We are on a strict schedule." Rhys said, placing his elbow on the window.

"Okay, dude. Just stop posing, you look like some model for some car brand." Cat snickered, reaching for her own door, behind the driver seat.

Rhys only raised a brow as he turned his head to almost a 180 degree turn, looking at Cat, somehow not snapping his neck. "You jealous?" He said jokingly, placing a foot over the wheel, striking a pose.

"Oh my God." Vaughn could be heard complaining.

Cat opened her door with a snicker, and instead of getting a bunch of awesome seats and the warm feeling of the car, she instead was met with a loud scream, with someone jumping at her.

Cat screamed, stumbling back, falling on her rear as she reached for her pistol. Already might murder someone and they aren't even on Pandora yet. Cat gripped her pistol, feeling like her throat had lost it's voice from the loud piercing scream she let out. She aimed her pistol out to the figure that jumped out the car.

She stared for a second, seeing the big figure. Her heart burned so much, and she could just feel her tattoos aching.

Rhys had jumped out of the car, leaving the door open as Vaughn had gotten out of his side, one leg still in the car, using it as leverage to look over at what was happen. They too screamed, and Rhys could be heard the loudest with his high voice.

Cat stared at the person, eyes widening once she realized who it was. A loud mighty laugh filled the room, aside from the relief breathes the other three did not realize they were holding.

"Dude, what the hell?" Vaughn yelled.

Alex simply laughed, his huge body jumping up and down. Although he was big, he was ripped as hell. You can clearly tell by how his entire outfit is tight in about every spot. His dark brown dark skin smooth and shiny. His big lips curving at the tips as he laughed. His chocolate brown eyes squinted as his big smile covered most of his face. His black hair was short, trimmed well, with the sides having two lines completely shaved. He wore a full black long sleeves, looking like it had scales. Then some baggy grey ammu pants, with a metal belt, the color outline grey as it had a glowing yellow iris in the middle. The belt had several grey bags, as well as a strap that had a Inventory box, a shield and a holstered pistol. There was a grey protector gear chest piece on him and around his arms, as he had grey metal pieces on his knees. Each piece of course having a yellow strip. He then had black combat boots, with a metal shell on it other than the moving joints. There was a metal piece on Alex's right shoulder, almost high enough to touch his ear. The metal piece was attached to a sort of metal bag on the right side of his back, holding whatever mysteries may be inside.

Alex was a big dude, and a handsome one. His dark color skin with his chocolate brown eyes. His black hair was very trimmed, with each side having two lines completely no hair. Alex was very tall, as well. Not as tall as Rhys, since Rhys was over 6'3'', Alex was probably 5'11''. So still tall. But, his muscles certainly made him look intimidating.

However, Alex wasn't intimidating at all. He was a friendly goof ball, who knows how to kill someone.

"Alex! What the hell is the matter with you!" Rhys yelled in anger.

Cat lowered her gun, holstering it back as her Siren hand held her head. She gained a massive headache from the jumpscare.

"Asshole!" Cat yelled, pointing an index at Alex.

He simply gave a confused expression. "What?"

"Yes, you! Asshole!" Cat yelled.

Rhys held his hand out for Cat to grab. She grabbed onto Rhys' human hand with her own Siren hand, and he pulled her up. Once gaining proper ground, she shifted on her feet.

"Uh, did you forget that we're about to head to Pandora!" Vaughn yelled, frustration in his voice. "Are you trying to give us all a heart attack before we even go down there?"

"Yeah, he's right. This is serious and you're jumping around scary people." Rhys frowned.

Alex was like that. He likes to joke around, make pranks, scary people. He was a joyful guy, and an awesome dude. To be honest, if they were heading somewhere else, not being on a top notch mission, it would have been funny. But this was personal. Cat was heading back home for a bit after years. She was already stressed out, she didn't need to be jumpscared. She wishes Alex could have been more considerant.

Cat placed both of her hands over her face. She did not want to deal that right now. Not only did she just have a mini panic attack, but she was having her own mental battle at the moment.

"Hey, I'm sorry man." Alex said with his low voice. He did sound sincere, but Cat was to pissed.

"You do know that we're about to head down to Pandora, right?" Cat snapped, pointing an index at Alex. "Pandora is my home planet, one that I haven't been to in ages, and I don't want to go down there. Do you have any idea how stressful that is, How terrified I am? And you think it's a good idea to give me a mini panic attack?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking, I just-" Alex began.

"Shut up. Just… shut up." Cat said, cradling her Siren hand with her mechanical one over her chest. She needed to calm down. She needed to relax.

"Hey, you okay?" Vaughn asked from over the car, worry in his voice. "Beside the mini heart attack everyone just had."

Rhys placed a gentle hand on Cat's shoulder, causing her to jump. She was so jumpy right now. She never noticed how everything felt right there. Alex scaring her wasn't helping her. She thought it could have been a Psycho, or a Skag, or a Bandit, or about any single thing that could kill you. She shivered as she remembered her life down on Pandora. She might have to live through that again. Searching for supplies and killing just to survive. Heck, she could have shot her friend! She had the pistol aimed right there, her finger on the trigger. She wasn't looking forward to killing again. It was a nightmare.

Pandora was a nightmare.

It was just crazy, how all the sudden she was heading to Pandora. Heading back home. She didn't want to.

"Yeah… Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Cat said, furrowing her brows as she looked over at Rhys. Cat gently but quickly brushed Rhys' hand off her shoulder as she took a step back. Her rear hurt. And her pants gained a few wrinkles. She adjusted her tie and collar, as the fall at messed up her look.

She turned to face the car, seeing that the bag she wore had fallen off. She adjusted her collar once again, making sure her tattoo wasn't showing, and she was good.

"Hey, did you get a new tattoo?" Rhys asked.

Cat froze in place. The mini attack, Pandora, now this. This day was just peachy.

The tattoo must have grown. But she was so sure her collar could cover it. Maybe it grew on the way down. But it couldn't have grown that fast, could it? No, no it couldn't. But how…?

"Uh, ah uh." Cat stuttered, trying to get words out from her shocked expression. "What-What are you talking about?" Maybe Rhys just saw a light on her or something. Her tattoos couldn't grow that fast. It took days, not hours.

Rhys pointed at her neck. "Here. Under your jaw." He said, a concerned voice with him.

"Aw, did you get a new tattoo to celebrate for the Bob. We could have totally gotten matching ones, everyone could have." Vaughn pouted.

"Yeah, it looks cool." Alex said, grinning.

"No, you don't deserve one." Vaughn said.

"What, no." Alex pouted.

"Not after you scared the devil out of us!" Vaughn said, glaring a murder glare at Alex. Sheesh, he was triggered.

Cat rubbed her gloved hand over her neck, feeling it pulsate under her touch. Oh boy. "I don't recall getting a new tattoo." She slowly said.

"Don't tell me you didn't know about it." Rhys said.

"That has happened to me a _lot_." Alex said grinned. He may get drunk about every weekend at the bar.

"No, I didn't put anything there. No tattoos, no tech…" Cat rubbed the side of her neck, trying to calm down the nerves. Maybe the new emotions of heading back home could be causing it. It made sense, since it was now harder to keep in check. And the sudden panic attack could also be a reason.

Cat couldn't hide the shocked expression on her face, rubbing her neck. She furrowed her brows and frowned as she lifted her collar up, hiding the markings. She was getting agitated by her tattoos. Now they were suspicious, and she still had to add Vasquez to the list. It was just piling up. She'd had to make an excuse. Maybe she got drunk one day and somehow got. No, that won't work. Maybe she got blue marker on her from some of the sketches in her office. Maybe.

"Okay, I know that tattoo thing is some weird stuff going on, but we gotta go. We can find out what it is later." Rhys said, a determined look on his face.

He was right. They were on a tight schedule. Maybe that'll give her time to think of what excuse she'll use. But Cat just hoped it'll stop growing.

She simply nodded, as she went to go pick up her bag. Once she wrapped it around her shoulder once again, she gave a glare to Alex, who raised his hands up in surrender.

She raised a brow at him, looking at his armor. "New armor?" She looked up at him.

Alex replied with a snarky grin. "Yep. Cost a couple thousand. A Motorcycle Fox Armor Motocross Protector Gear Armor. And it's friggin awesome, since I made it bullet proof and stuff, but it's-" He started rambling.

Cat raised a hand. "I didn't ask for specifics." She hissed.

"Where's Benedict?" Vaughn asked. "Why are you here, anyways?"

Vaughn had a point. Alex wasn't even suppose to be there, nonetheless jump scare them. Benedict should be the one there, not him. But when Cat looked around, Benedict was nowhere to be seen.

"Right here." Benedict said, making Cat jump. Cat looked where the voice came from, and saw that Benedict was sitting in the car, behind the shotgun seat. This raised a brow, now looking at Alex. "Didn't answer my second question."

"Benedict told me you guys were going somewhere. I had free time, I thought why not come along. And you guys are getting a Vault Key without me!" He said, now seeming hurt with anger.

"A Bob." Everyone corrected him.

"Sorry…" Alex mumbled.

"We already have a bodyguard, and we can't have everyone gone and running around on Pandora." Vaughn said.

He was right. There was five of them now. Gosh darn. Having them both would be a good idea. Benedict, the Doctor. And Alex, the Brute. But then too many people could cause attention, and the last thing they want on Pandora is attention. Since Rhys and Vaughn were still wearing Hyperion clothing, a group of Hyperion workers isn't always the most loved thing on Pandora.

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Alex smiled.

"I'm able to stay here, that is still out in the open." Benedict noted, raising a finger up as he leaned forwards in his seat.

"You're coming." Cat glared at him, and Benedict only pouted in his seat as he leaned back in it, staring at the seat in front of him.

"Let's just all go, we can have some of us wait in the car." Rhys said impatiently, getting back inside the car.

Cat simply shrugged, making sure she had her bag over her shoulder. It was a good idea to have some of them wait. Why was Rhys so smart?

Both Rhys and Vaughn hopped into the car. Cat was kind enough to hold the door for Alex so he could sit in the middle, since the middle seat sucked. However, Alex refused by shaking his head, and moved so Cat could go into the car. Made sense, since she was smaller. She cursed to herself.

Cat only grinned as she held the door further. "I insist." She said with a cocky grin. Alex only rolled his eyes, as he scooted into the car, Cat following behind. She slammed the door shut, as she saw Benedict scoot closer to his own door to give himself room.

She was right. The seats were like friggin clouds. It felt so nice, so comfy. The seats were a cool leather, nice and smooth. Cat's ass has never felt this at home before in her life, she thought she fell in love. And the smell of the car was just a simple delight. The smell of a brand new car. The front of the car looked like some sort of panel, with the buttons seeming to glow and all, with the joystick in the middle with a red sort of crystal in it. The car was definite very expensive, seeming to suit Vasquez's taste.

Cat glanced over to see Benedict, his blonde hair short on the sides and back, meanwhile he had a comb over. He had one strip of blue in the comb over, it falling down over his face as other blonde strips fell onto his face. His chocolate eyes were fearful, as he fiddled his fingers on his knees. He was tall, just like Rhys. He had his white coat on, it reaching to his knees. He had this sort of blue padding under his jacket, with the shoulder being able to disconnect, with two silver clips keeping it together. The blue padding around his torso also had yellow trimming. Under the padding was black button up, and then he had brown pants with a black belt. Then his black dress shoes.

What laid next to him was a white case, with a Hyperion pattern and logo of two yellow stripes across it. The white case must have medical supplies, and her guess was right, since on the case it had the medical + symbol on it.

Benedict looked terrified. His fingers were tapping on his knees, as his legs bounced up and down. He hated this, and Cat slightly found it funny.

Alex looked excited, and filled with determination. He held a grin on his face as he waited impatiently in his seat. Cat could see the holster on his right thigh, holding a black SMG of whatever kind, Cat couldn't place. He then had another one holstered on his left thigh. In his inventory his ammo must be filled to the top. He looked morder ready.

Vaughn not so much. She couldn't tell if Benedict was more worried or if Vaughn was. However, Vaughn looked as if he were about to puke. He was tapping his fingers on the case full of money, as he waited impatiently in his seat. He kept on adjusting his glasses, needing a source of something to do.

Rhys had many emotions on him. Fear and excitement was the main two. He was looking around every now and then, trying to focus on something. And then he would lean back, being all slang, trying to be cool. It was more funny than cool.

Cat probably held most of those feelings, since they were about to be on Pandora in the next couple of minutes.

Okay, why was Rhys driving? Not to think about it, why isn't she driving. She was the one who lived on Pandora, and actually knew her way around. Meanwhile some company dude was driving.

Cat placed her bag on her lap, making sure nothing fell on the floor of the car. It was like Heaven in that car. She couldn't wait to send that thing to hell on Pandora.

"Hey, Rhys." Cat started.

"Yeah, what's up?" He replied, glancing behind the black seat with two yellow stripes going down it.

"Why are you driving?" She asked.

"Because I'm a good driver?" He said, almost a question for himself.

"Yeah, but I lived on Pandora. I know what it's like." Cat argued, raising a brow as she leaned forwards, putting a hand on his seat.

There was a section across the middle of the car, so a window could be pulled up. Kinda like a Taxi. Good thing it was open.

"You want to drive and stop complaining?" Rhys asked, placing an elbow on his seat, turning his body so he could face Cat. She noted his brow was raised, giving a questioning look.

"Yes. Yes I do." Cat said, raising her head up high with a grin.

Yes, she was gonna drive. Now she can wreck the car as much as she liked. Oh, she hasn't driven in a long time. She has a license to use when on other planets, since she goes on vacations. Not everything is in space stations and guns and stuff. There were worlds that were actually peaceful. But, boring at the same time.

Cat had a motorcycle down on Pandora before she got to Helios. She'd use it to travel, look to supplies, pull thing, ya know, what a motorcycle was meant for. But, she was a pro at the thing. Did tricks and stunts all the time. Heck, even rode it in battle with a few bandit raids. It was fun. Although, really dangerous. Most driving now was in streets with stop lights and stuff. But, down on Pandora, it was open road, nothing to stop you. A good thing and a bad thing when there's no law on the bloody planet.

Rhys opened his door, as Cat did the same. Rhys took a foot outside the door, till something slammed both doors closed by something outside. Rhys was lucky to have pulled his foot back in the car in time before he became one footed.

Everyone jumped and gasped by the sudden loud slam, as Alex and Rhys leaned away from their doors.

Cat stared at the window, annoyed that there might be something else that'll give her a mini heart attack. Everyone was quiet, terrified. Guess no one was shot from a big huge machine into a planet at a million friggin miles an hour before.

It was silent for a long time, as everyone was leaning against each other, away from the door. Each one of them was staring intently at it, waiting for something. The silence was nerve-racking, and Cat decided it was time to talk.

"What the fu-AH!" She yelped, seeing a massive red eye appear at the window. A Loader Bot. They were machines, the color of yellow and white. With it's long arms and legs, built strong for endurance and strength. And it's one red eye to see the world. Loader Bots were massive. Over 10 feet tall. And strong, being able to hold thousands of pounds. One thing Cat learned from them, is do not mess with them.

Loader Bots were very important for Hyperion. They are the mainstay of Hyperion's military might on Pandora. They can be customized in different varieties, each variant suited to a particular role when in action. They are practically the military, the enforcers, and frequently the executioners fielded by the Hyperion regime. Or just human soldiers. Loaders are highly versatile, serving a variety of roles ranging from basic infantry, to snipers, to air forces, to just building stuff.

Loader Bots can enter the field by Moonbase shots, emerge from a Hyperion structure, or even be digistructed from a digistruct pole, platform, or the eye of a constructor.

Loader Bots are usually predictable, depending on the robot. They use holographic signals to supplement their verbal status updates. A grenade image indicates that they are about to lob a grenade. A spanner and or wrench symbol denotes the unit is heavily damaged and awaiting repair by a surveyor. There are also many other signals that are pointless, really.

The bots can take a lot of damage from guns and such, seeming to never fall. Which is good for their many purposes, such as fighting. But, they have hits where damage them well. The joints. Arm, leg, and their own optics. Sufficient damage to a limb joint will cause the limb to fall off, disabling various combat functions. So Loaders were pretty easy to fight if you know where to hit them.

The Loaders seemed to have gotten smarted after Jack died, gaining a higher intelligence and redesign. They are more efficient, more durable, and have better statistics in battle. Although, they come in rare numbers due to how expensive they are.

Cat watched intently at the Loader Bots that came around the car, being the older models. However, they really didn't matter. What did matter was why were they at the car.

"Hi…" Cat said, full of confusion as she leaned her back against Alex, not wanting to get close to the robot.

"Oh my God, we're caught. I knew it. I just knew it." Vaughn started babbling, holding the suitcase full of money on his lap, drumming his fingers on it.

"What's happening?" Cat asked, moving away from the window as a Loader Bot came into view.

"Our death is what's happening." Alex said.

"Maybe it's just a goodbye note, ya know? A farewell." Rhys said, worry in his voice.

"Yeah, a farewell to our doom." Vaughn muttered, watching a Loader Bot at his window intently.

Cat was about to say something else, when she noticed the metal shell in pieces around the car. Right, moonshot. They weren't just going to shoot the car out into space.

The Loader Bots were moving the black metal shell around the car, the loud clanking and drilling around it. It was like they were inside a bullet. And it was scaring Cat. They were going to get launched out in that. Just that? This was going to the scariest experience in Cat's life. And that's saying something.

The metal case must be a sort of protector. When crashing on the planet of Pandora, it'd be a good idea to have something around them. It must fall apart when landing. Or boy, they were gonna crash.

Soon enough, the entire car was engulfed in darkness. They were inside the shell of… whatever it was made out of.

"What is happening?" Vaughn asked, looking around frantically. Cat couldn't see them. She patted around, trying to understand her surroundings. Giving up on that, she lifted her hand up to have the light of her arm emit. She saw all of the boys look at her, now squinting their eyes from the bright light.

"Okay… What now?" Cat asked, seeing all of their confused faces as they glanced at each other.

Till suddenly, the car shifted. It seemed like the metal shell was connecting to the car so it wouldn't jerk inside. Oh God, it was like riding a rollar coaster. She hated rollar coasters.

The metal shell was moving, shifting around, metal hitting metal, creaks every now and then. _How old is this thing?_

"AAAAaaaaahhhhh, ooookayyyyy, ooooohmygodd, why is this happening? Why is this happening?" Vaughn asked.

"I think we're getting loaded into the cannon for the moonshot." Rhys replied, looking outside the window to see nothing.

"Yeah, yeah, he's right. After that, we're getting launched a millions miles an hour." Benedict mumbled, full of annoyance.

"Where the hell are the seat belts on this thing." Alex said, looking around his seat, looking for a seatbelt. He found one, pulled it over his chest, and buckled in.

"This is it. This is the end." Cat started.

"Oh my God, please stop." Vaughn said, frowning at her with terror in his eyes.

"This is how we die." Cat said.

"Stop." Vaughn said.

"Anyone, please. Say your final words." Cat said, looking out the window to see nothingness.

"Two. Shut up." Vaughn said.

"That was three."

"Stop talking."

"Now that was two."

"End me now."

"It will come soon, my friend."

"What is wrong with you!" Vaughn asked.

"Okay, guys, come down." Rhys said, looking back at the three of them, putting his elbow on his seat to help turn him.

Suddenly, the car jerked even more, making a loud metal noise. _Did something break?_

"Everyone buckle up!" Rhys said, seating normally as he placed his feet heavily on the floor of the car. He pulled the seat belt over his body, clicking it. Vaughn too did the same. Cat mumbled a few words as she did so, it being a struggle with the car shaking and one hand being occupied for a light source.

"This was a horrible idea." Benedict said. He was such a downer.

"Hold onto something!" Cat yelled, grabbing her Siren hand on the door handle as her mechanic hand gripped onto the side of the seat. Vaughn was right, it was a horrible idea.

Everything stopped moving. No more noises filled the metal shell, nothing moved a muscle. Just silence. All they needed was some crickets and it was good. The silence was killing her. Something needed to happen, their independent doom was coming.

"..." Nothing. It was just like taking a test in class, the silence and everything. Nobody was speaking, just the breathing of each person filling the car. Each one of them were frantically looking around, waiting for something. Til they slowly stopped, now slowly looking at each other, wondering if anything would happen.

Okay, now it was just stupid. Each one of them glanced back and forth at each other, wondering what to do.

"Is anything gonna happe-AH! MOTHER FUCKER!" Vaughn yelled, eyes widen, screaming as the car suddenly launched forwards, a roaring explosion moving behind them, shaking the car. The sudden acceleration launching the car forced them all to be thrown back into their seats.

They were off of Helios.

Great…

There was screaming. Vaughn, fear and terror. Rhys, the same, but high pitched. Benedict, the same scream. Alex, a heartfelt laughter. Cat, same, although slight laughter of the dark humor. "So, how much… you wanna bet… how we're gonna… die!" Cat yelled, trying to say through the force going through her body. It was so hard to talk, as her head bobbed back and forth. Her muscles felt weak, as the force pushing her body into the seat was like going through a rocket. Yet, Cat joked around at the face of death.

"Screw you!" Vaughn yelled through gritted teeth. Cat loved to annoy him.

They all rocketed through space, and Cat could feel her tattoos glowing under her clothing, the adrenaline coursing through her. They were heading to Pandora. And although it was terrifying, flying through space and such, she was actually excited. And having fun. Soon her screams were turned into excitement.

Till she suddenly felt hot. Her tattoos, yes. But it wasn't only that. The entire car was hot. Maybe it was them all shreking at the top of their lungs and the breathing was causing the air to heat up. That yes. But not only that. No, wait. They were burning. The shell was burning.

"My money's… on a fiery death!" She yelled, getting a better grip on her voice box as she grinned. _This was fun._

Cat soon realised they were going through the atmosphere. Damn, that thing was fast.

"You are not… helping!" Rhys yelled, taking a glance behind the side to glare at her, but soon regretted it as the side of his head site the back of his seat. He groaned, squinting his eyes shut.

Vaughn was still yelling. It was actually concerning. She felt bad now for joking. But, she'll know he'll look back at that day and laugh.

"Vaughn!" Nothing. "VAUGHN!" Cat yelled, trying to get his attention.

"WHAT!" He yelled, anger and fear in his voice. He took a quick glance behind to see her, but was forced to look forward again.

Moving her mechanical hand wasn't easy, but the light was off, and she reached forwards. It took a few moments, trying to push the force of falling away. Her hand was shaking as she reached, but soon enough, she placed a firm grip on Vaughn's shoulder.

Vaughn looked back, resting the side of his head on the seat. He looked at her with a shocked expression, everything else unreadable. He looked like he grew a new emotion of bravery inside of him.

Rhys seemed to take notice in this, and reached his metal hand to grab Vaughn's hand. Cat soon then reached her other hand onto Rhys' shoulder, now sitting more in the middle. Alex and Benedict too noticed. Benedict reached his hand to touch Alex's shoulder, as his right hand reached to touch Vaughn's. Alex then held onto Cat's shoulder, and touch Rhys'. It was like some weird handshake, er something. Even though it was odd, it was comforting. She would have liked to unbuckle her seatbelt, since the position was hurting her spine, but she didn't want to die when they landed.

Cat felt braver at that moment. She was with her friends, and heading to Pandora. She was happy. She was excited, thrilled. She wasn't going to be some sad sob on Pandora, she was going to have a good time with her friends, screw over an asshole on Helios, and get a freakin Vault Key.

They all looked forward, awaiting a crash that could happen any moment. They each held onto each other, confidence all through them as they all yelled. Not sure in fear of excitement, but it felt necessary for the moment.

"So… this is a thing!" Cat managed to yell through gritted teeth, as she had to lean forwards to reach their shoulders. Her back was getting an ache but it was worth it to be with her friends if they do actually die.

"Why are we… doing this?" Benedict yelled, his eyes screwed tight from fear. Any moment they could crash and be splat into a million pieces.

"I don't know!" Rhys yelled.

"Can you… turn on… the radio!" Cat yelled.

"Seriously!" Rhys asked, raising a brow.

"If you want… to land on Pandora… like a badass… you need… badass… music!" Cat yelled through a grin.

Alex laughed, shaking his head. "You people are crazy!"

Rhys seemed to ponder for a moment, thinking. Till he reached his human hand over, fiddling for the buttons, unable to see anything other than the tiny lights on the buttons. He soon touched a few buttons, and some song blared on. Kinda odd, since they were falling from space and they had perfect signal. Not sure how, but awesome.

Some classic rock music was playing, and Cat could tell it was the song Busy Earnin'. It was one of the old songs she would play in her office whenever she would work. And she loved that song.

It was comical, really. Going through space at who knows what speed, to get a bunch of money in the end of the road, meanwhile listening to some great music. It was great. Funny. One day they were going to look back at this day, and just think about how it all started.

"So you come a long way~!" Cat yelled through a lyrics, trying her best to actually stay in tune with it, since it was kinda hard to talk. Oh man, it was awesome. Getting shot out of Helios, going back home, getting a Vault Key. That must be the millionth time it was mentioned, but it was just crazy. It was awesome! She really needed this new excitement. She hoped it won't get her tattoos to glow more though.

Cat could hear them all laughing, and she couldn't stop the big grin appearing on her face as she laughed. "But you'll never have me~!" Cat sung. Her voice was terrible, thanks to the falling in the atmosphere. But hey, it was funny when her voice cracked.

"Never have things for a normal LIFE~!" Cat yelled, shrieking her voice on purpose as Rhys and Vaughn screamed and laugh.

"It's TIME! Too busy EARNIN'~!" Cat screamed at the top of her lungs, laughing.

"You can't get ENOUGH!" They all yelled with laughs, till they all screamed when the metal shell hit something roughly.

Of course, perfect timing when the down beat of the song started. The metal shell sounded like it broke, as the heat broke off the car. The sudden jerk was so harsh, Cat had to let go of their shoulders to brace herself. However, she was launched back, having her upper back hit the back seat. Now, that hurt. But, the force bounced her forwards, as her forehead hit the window thingy between the front seats and the back seat, separating them. She grew a massive headache as she groaned out in pain.

They probably hit something on the way down, as she heard a loud crash and some splash. Probably blood. Whoo! Already murderers! However, they bounced for a second as Rhys used both his hands on the heel, pushing the pedal for breaks as Vaughn grabbed onto the door handle and the compartment in the middle.

The metal shell soon began to break apart. It was suppose to do that. The sudden light had pierced her eyes as she squinted, blinking rapidly as she tried to focus on something. It was hard to do so, as the throbbing pain on her forehead and upper back was getting worse. It would definitely bruise.  
Cat sat back into her seat behind the driver seat, making sure not to hit anything else on the way.  
They were all screaming as Cat groaned in pain. Okay. Fun was over. Kinda. There was still some good music. Although she missed most of the lyrics.  
Rhys was screaming as the car was swerving back and forth. The metal shell had broken off completely, falling behind them. They could see the bright desert burning through the already heated car. Rock formations were everywhere, points and tips of what could be considered mountains were pointing towards the sky. There were dead bushes and grass everywhere. The sun was just in the middle of the sky, it being afternoon. The heat waves could be seen easily. It looked like 90 degrees fahrenheit. Dust was flying past them as Rhys tried to gain control of the car.

It was turning left and right as it shifted. He ended up hitting a rock, losing complete control of the car. Rhys tried hitting the brakes, but it wasn't doing it's job as the wheels were too turned to be stopped. Maybe the wheels weren't working? Maybe?

Rhys turned the wheel, trying to make the car go straight instead of turning in every direction. Till the car was just spinning in circles now.

"Learn how to drive will ya!" Vaughn yelled, gripping onto anything at this point.

"I'm trying!" Rhys yelled back, frustration in his voice.

"Okay, changing my bet to car crash!" Cat yelled.

"Shut up!" Rhy said, turning the wheel. All five of them shifted as their bodies tilted to the left, Cat hitting the door with her side. However, she got crushed by Alex, and Benedict on Alex.

The car suddenly stopped turning, moving slow as it went at a steady pace moving straight. Rhys was driving the car straight through a dirt path. He reached over, turning the volume down of the song to where it could barely be heard. The dust was moving around them, appearing when they went over the bright tan dirt. Rhys was able to drive. Ahah! They were alive! They each looked outside the car windows, watching the car steady move, making sure it didn't explode or anything.

They each looked at each other. They were all panting, unsure of what to do.

"I feel like an airbag should have went off. Why didn't one go off?" Cat asked, terrified.

"WHAT!" Vaughn screamed.

They all flinched, the noise hurting their ears. "Jesus, dude, stop yelling in everyone's freaking earholes!" Cay yelled as she leaned forwards to see them both to make sure they were alive.

"Oh, sorry man! I can't hear myself! Rhys, you yell, like, really really loud! Seriously, your body must be like all lungs!" Vaughn said, still yelling. He hit the side of his head, rubbing his ears. "Agh! Agh, God." He said, finally able to hear probably. He looked at them all. "You should seriously try out for some singing classes or something with those lungs."

Cat only sighed in annoyance. She glanced around, looking outside the car. The others did the same. Heh. They were on Pandora… holy crap.

They both looked back at each other with a blank expression. Till all the sudden they all bursted out laughing.

"That was awesome!" Rhys said with joy, laughing.

"I know, bro! It was crazy!" Vaughn laughed.

"Yeah, we could have like totally died right there!" Cat laughed. Even though Pandora was a crazy planet, she missed the excitement.

Although, the laughing from Cat soon died down into a coughing fit, her fist reaching up to cover her mouth. They all stopped, looking at Cat with concern.

"You alright?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, yeah… Just, not used to that much screaming." Cat said, her voice raspy as she adjusted. She almost lost her voice.

"Yeah, my throat feels like it just got murdered." Vaughn said, rubbing his throat.

Cat snorted, leaning against the door. She looked outside, seeing the world out there. It was so… empty. So quiet… So peaceful. How much did Pandora change?

"I can't believe we're on Pandora." Cat said, staring in disbelief. She didn't know how to feel. Nostalgic? Depression? Relief? Satisfied? She didn't know. She just… felt lost… Yet excited as hell, holy crap, she could run a marathon.

The only one that wasn't laughing though, was Benedict. He was sitting in his seat, looking out the window. He glared at them all.

"Okay, we're on Pandora. Let's just hurry and leave before we get murdered." Benedict grumbled.

Rhys glanced at him, as everyone else looked. He looked annoyed. He looked like he was about to jump out of the car. It was understandable, since they were on a murder planet and if they got caught with 10 million dollars by either bandits, or Hyperion, they were going to be in lots of trouble.

"Hey, it's gonna be fine." Rhys said. "We're not going to be here for long. We're gonna go get the Vault Key, give them the money, and leave. No biggy. It's gonna be alright." Rhys said, flexing his fingers on the wheel to express what he was saying.

Benedict simply glared at him. "We have 10 million dollars chained to a wrist on Vaughn. If the town we're going to has bandits, we gotta be quiet. We just crashed landed from space. That's not quiet." He spat.

"Look, we're fine. We're in a car. We've got guns, we got a doctor, we got a good driver, and we got… Vaughn." Cat said, slightly insulted Vaughn as she grinned towards his way. She almost laughed when Vaughn glared at her.

"You've been down here a million times. This will be like every other time." Alex said.

"Every time I've been down here, I was healing people who were missing limbs as Psychos were trying to murder Hyperion workers." Benedict deadpanned.

"Yeah, but you lived every time. And this time, we won't have to kill anyone. It's gonna be fine." Alex said, leaning in his seat.

Benedict simply looked out his window, not wanting to talk. He was clearly grumpy. Cat wanted to help in some way, but maybe silence would be good.

Okay, she didn't like the silence.

"How are we not dead?" Cat asked, looking out the window.

"What do you mean?" Rhys asked.

"We just crashed hundred of miles towards the ground, and the only thing protecting us was the shell. We should be in a billion pieces right now." Cat said.

"Magic." Alex said. It was simply replied with a glare by Cat.

She scoffed as she looked out the window.

Rhys was still driving calmly, making sure not to hit anything. Respectable. But not for Pandora. "Hey, butthole, what's with going so slow. You're moving like 5 miles an hour." Cat said, leaning forward to put a hand on his seat to pull her forwards. She decided to unbuckle was a good idea, since Rhys was a good driver. She leaned into the middle seat, so she could get a view of the front of the car, and what was up ahead.

"Uh, 39 miles, actually." Rhys said, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Speed it up!" Cat said.

"What! Why! This is a good speed." Rhys said.

"For starters, this is Pandora, no law. A Grandma on this planet drives faster than you. Second, we're on a time limit. You want Assquez to beat you?" Cat asked, glaring at Rhys.

He simply glanced back with a glare and looked back at the road. He waited a moment, debating on what to do.

For what seemed like ages, the car soon began to speed up, the engine speaking beautifully. Cat leaned back in her chair, now happy that they were moving faster than 39 miles.  
Cat sighed, turning her head towards her left, facing the window.  
Pandora.  
Wow.  
It looks the same. Deadly, crazy, terrifying, so on. It held a sense of nostalgia, a feeling Cat didn't enjoy. It was scary. She didn't know how to feel. Happy she was there, mad, sad, so on? She was so caught up in emotions, it was headache making.  
Cat reached her Siren hand towards the button on the door, pressing it down. The window soon began to descend inside the door, and a cool hard breeze hit Cat's face. She squinted, the pressure on her eyes painful, yet peaceful. The window down sent a fresh air into the car, filling it up.  
Cat placed her elbow out the window, feeling the breeze hit her clothing and onto her elbow.  
Pandora was never this peaceful. But Cat knew at some point it'll end. It always did.  
It was hard to admit, but Cat believed it was nice being back down on Pandora. However, she doesn't wish to stay for long. Who knows what could happen down there.  
Bandits attacking, being robbed, driving off a cliff, a stroke, Psychos, illness, heart attack, tripping, being shot, being stabbed, the list goes on. It never stops. Those were just a second in thought of what could happen.  
And those possibly happening to Rhys, Vaughn and Benedict was heart-aching. They were right. She should have come, and she was lucky she did. Rhys and Vaughn and Benedict wouldn't survive on Pandora. Well, maybe they could. They are smart, but have no experience in combat. They didn't even know how to hold a gun. So far, Cat was their only protection. And she can't protect them from Pandora.  
Just the thought of them getting hurt, or worse, was causing Cat to panic. Pandora had it's limits, and Cat couldn't reach those limits. If they got hurt, it would be her fault, because she was the one in charge to protect them. She wouldn't be able to live with herself.  
Cat could feel her muscles inside her stomach tightening, and could feel her hands curling into fist. She was getting anxious. They could die. Rhys, Vaughn and Benedict could die. They could get hurt, or killed, or hurt and then killed. Pandora is just a threat to them, and could kill them any second. Any moment. And it was nerve-racking. Anything can happen at any moment.  
And it would be her fault failing her responsibility.

Alex was alright though, he could handle himself. Being on Pandora was like going to lunch to eat. Average thing to do.  
"Hey, you uh. You uh, alright?" Rhys asked, glancing at the mirror every now and then to see her. "I know it may be, uh, hard for you. Being on Pandora and such. I just wanna know. You doing okay?"  
Cat wasn't expecting to hear him speak, and she jumped. She tilted her body to the right, seeing Rhys' forehead and eyes through the mirror. "I'm… I'm fine, thanks." She said.  
Rhys only looked more worried. "You sure?"  
"Yeah, you can talk to us, you know." Vaughn said.  
Cat hesitated, looking down at the seat, thinking. It was nice to know the guys cared. She looked back up into the mirror, seeing Rhys' mismatched eyes looking at her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just… kinda hard to believe I actually kinda missed this place." She said with a smile.  
"How?" Vaughn said, looking back to face her, a brow raised. "This place is like mega crazy."  
Rhys only chuckled.  
"How would you know? You never lived it?" Cat argued with a grin, also raising her brow.  
"So? This place is full of killers." Vaughn said. He had a good argument.  
"Would you miss me if I left?" Cat asked.  
"Yes."  
"I'm a killer."  
"Good point."  
"That's why I said it."  
Vaughn simply snickered and looked back at the road, shaking his head. Cat rolled her eyes with a smile as she looked back out her window.  
With the three windows now open, the var was filled with air. And it was nice.  
Rhys turned the car to the left, having Cat slightly feel lighter for a few seconds. But then he slowed down.  
"Rhys, what the hell?" Cat asked, glaring at the back of Rhys' head.

"Dude, go like over a hundred miles, it's fun as hell." Alex said. Benedict only looked at him terrified, as if his life was flashing before his at the thought that they might crash.  
"Vaughn, you need to set the navigation, I just realized I don't know where I'm going." Rhys said.  
"How did you just realize-" Cat began to ask.  
"Sh!" Rhys shushed her, taking a glance behind him with a threatening voice.  
"On it. Cat, you got the navigation?" Vaughn asked, turning his head to face her.  
"Yeah, right here." Cat said, reaching inside a pocket in her bag, holding a ECHO device the size of a palm with a screen. She then handed it to Vaughn, who simply took it, glancing behind her.  
"Now speed up." Cat said like a little child.  
"After Vaughn sets the thing up." Rhys said, seeming annoyed with a tint of humor.  
"Rhys." Vaughn said.  
"Yeah, buddy." Rhys replied, glancing over to see Vaughn's worried expression as he fiddled with the navigation.  
"Drive."  
"I just said that-" Cat groaned.  
"Drive, drive, drive!" Vaughn yelled, looking at the back window.  
All their eyes followed Vaughn's eyes, and saw through the window was replied with loud gasp.  
Oh great.  
Bandits.

End of Chapter 1

Author's Note

I'll write later.


End file.
